Molly Little Faces Disturbing Allegations

David Vick — December 20, 2023

Molly Little is alleged to have had multiple sexual relationships with college players she coached in 2023.

One of these relationships occurred at Jacksonville University (JU) during the 2023 season, and the other happened in the fall of this year after she became an assistant coach at Niagara University (NU).

The allegations were presented to Lacrosse Extras and supported by two players under the condition of anonymity, one from each school.

While two sexual relationships have been alleged, there is a possibility more took place.

“There has been speculation amongst the team that others who were noticeably close with Molly may have also engaged in relationships with her,” the anonymous Jacksonville player said.

According to the anonymous Jacksonville player, sexual relations between Molly, 25-years-old, and the player took place on road trips throughout the season. The player did not share any further information on the length of time this went on for, location of other encounters or nature of the relationship.

Along with choosing to engage in a sexual relationship with a player she coached at Jacksonville, the JU player said Molly’s behavior was very unprofessional, which included displaying favoritism.

“She most definitely demonstrated favoritism towards players she forged relationships with, whether those relationships were of a sexual nature or simply an emotional one. Those close to Molly were, from my perspective, provided with more opportunities to grow as players that I believe also translated into gametime opportunities,” the anonymous Jacksonville player said.

Molly’s actions did not stop there.

“She would give her favorite players gifts that were extremely personal and not always appropriate,” the Jacksonville player said.

Frequently at practice, Molly would play around with certain players and not pay attention to drills taking place, “even going as far as distracting players from what they needed to do, getting them in trouble in the process,” according to the JU player.

The Jacksonville player acknowledges that she felt relief when Molly was no longer an assistant coach on the team. This was, in part, due to Molly’s favoritism impacting players on the team.

“There was a lot of favoritism going on towards certain players on the team… There were definitely some players she put more effort into working with and getting to know more than others, and that took a toll on the development of others,” the player added.

However, the player’s relief was in no part due to how the Jacksonville coaching staff handled the situation. The entire statement from the JU player given when asked about the handling of the situation by the staff is split into four paragraphs to make it easier to read.

“There was very little transparency from the coaches regarding the situation, and as a team we were all very disappointed that our staff did not lay all the facts out for us so that we could better understand what really happened. It was, for the most part, kept quiet and under wraps. Many teammates didn’t find out until recently and were upset that her departure was so ambiguous and poorly handled.”

“Prior to knowing what happened, we were asked to attend a Zoom call where our coaches told us that Molly would no longer be working with our team. There was no explanation whatsoever regarding the reasons behind her departure, and the call was maybe 5 minutes long. Molly did not attend the call, and many teammates thought that the call felt off in some way and that the full truth was being hidden from us. I understand that our coaches only had good intentions and wanted to protect us from the truth, but I think that we deserved to hear the full story seeing as the situation directly affected our entire team, our dynamic, and our future.”

“They most DEFINITELY should have addressed the wrongdoings of our former assistant coach instead of keeping it relatively under wraps. They needed to acknowledge the fact that an individual in a position of power over the other and who, in many ways, had a direct say in that player’s career at the time, took advantage of her position in order to fulfill a personal desire. Regardless of whether the relationship between Molly and the player was consensual or not (though we have been informed that it was), there was a power imbalance that could have prompted the player to engage in a sexual relationship in the first place.”

“The coaches failed to follow up on their duty to address this imbalance and take responsibility for potentially playing a role in fostering an environment where this kind of behavior was overlooked.”

Jacksonville Head Coach Tara Singleton did not respond when contacted by Lacrosse Extras. Instead, a statement was given by JU’s Senior Vice President of Strategic Operations Scott Bacon.

“Jacksonville University does not share detailed personnel information on current or former employees. We can confirm that Molly Little served as an assistant women’s lacrosse coach at Jacksonville University and resigned after the 2023 season,” Bacon said.

However, according to the Jacksonville player, Molly was fired.

After working at Jacksonville as an assistant coach, Molly was hired to the same position at Niagara University. The hiring was announced by the school on August 23, 2023.

While the exact timing is unclear, Molly engaged in another sexual relationship with a player she coached; this time with a member of Niagara’s 2023-2024 Women’s Lacrosse Team, according to an anonymous player on the team.

As of the publishing of this story, Molly is not listed on Niagara’s coaching staff. According to the player, she was fired.

Unlike the case at Jacksonville, the Niagara player thinks NU’s coaching staff, led by Wendy Stone, handled the situation properly, at least initially, upon finding out what occurred.

However, all is not well on the team.

“There is a major issue with the team dynamics,” said the Niagara player. “The coaches are not taking action in how the team is affected by it.”

“They [the Niagara coaching staff] sent resources and discussed with the team that they were here if anyone needed anything,” she went on to add. Since then, “it has been silent about how they are going to move forward.”

Niagara’s Head Coach Wendy Stone did not respond to a request for comment.

While investigating these allegations, 37 of the 38 players listed on Niagara’s 2023-2024 roster and 41 of the 43 players on Jacksonville’s 2022-2023 roster were contacted.

No players refuted the allegations or defended Molly in anyway.