The University of Illinois hired a Chicago law firm to conduct an investigation into accusations of mistreatment by women’s basketball coaches, and apparently not much was turned up.
A report from Pugh, Jones & Johnson that was released on Monday found the claims to be unfounded. Investigators determined that former assistant basketball coach Mike Divilbiss “treated players harshly” and recommended that the program make some changes, but there was no evidence of racially motivated mistreatment.
“Some athletes and their parents obviously disagreed with the coaches’ judgments about which players most effectively executed their new style of play, but there is no evidence that the coaches did not honestly believe they put the best team on the floor, without consideration of players’ race,” the report stated, according to The Associated Press.
The scandal erupted in May when the families of three players sent letters to the university expressing their concerns over the way Divilbiss and head coach Matt Bollant were treating certain members of the team. The players all claimed they were forced to play through significant injuries.
There were also allegations that included coaches calling African-American players “crabs” and intentionally creating “racial tension” among the team. There was also one allegation of “sexual inappropriateness” against Divilbiss.
The internal investigation only seemed to cover the accusations of racial mistreatment, so it’s unclear if any discoveries were made with regard to the other claims.
Illinois is also looking into complaints made by a former football player against head football coach Tim Beckman. Those claims — which are quite disturbing — are still under investigation.
