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Freshman, father struggle with allegations

CHAMPAIGN — Marvin Rice feels like his family did its due diligence when his daughter, Cierra, committed and signed with Illinois.

And after allegations surfaced of racial discrimination and verbal abuse against the Illini coaching staff.

That included filing Freedom of Information Acts to the university for emails and texts between the Illinois coaches, university and families involved.

What the Rice family found and experienced didn’t match the allegations detailed first in letters to multiple Illinois administrators and then in a lawsuit filed by the families of seven ex-players Wednesday.

“It goes against everything we’ve witnessed and seen and everyone we reached out to,” Marvin Rice told The News-Gazette on Thursday.