LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – An article ESPN published Tuesday gives readers a backstory on the controversies surrounding Husker volleyball player Harper Murray and her battle with mental illness.

Husker fans expressed their support for Murray and predicted she would recover.

“She acknowledged it, she talked about it with her teammates and even fans, and she’s been so open about the whole situation, which makes her a great role model,” Ashlee Mitchell said.

SEE ALSO: Harper Murray, Nebraska volleyball player: ‘I just want to move on with my life’

Last spring, Murray was charged with driving under the influence and shoplifting.

She is in a diversion program for shoplifting and was given 9 months probation for driving under the influence.

Murray says in the ESPN article that she’s not happy it happened, but that without her legal troubles she may not have gotten the help she needed.

“I think part of my healing process is learning to love volleyball again, and I think that will come as I learn to love myself more,” she said.

SEE ALSO: Nebraska volleyball player Harper Murray pleads guilty to drunk driving

A recent ESPN documentary called “No Place Like Nebraska” focuses on the highs and lows of the last Husker volleyball season.

Co-director Jen Karson-Strauss said Murray wanted to talk to him about what happened.

She said Murray, her family and the coaching staff understood it needed to be talked about.

Murray “really embraced it and felt like this was important not only for Husker volleyball, but for its relationship with mental health,” Karson-Strauss said.

SEE ALSO: Nebraska Volleyball Team’s Harper Murray Charged with Robbery at Lincoln Scheels

Some Husker fans said what happened was a wake-up call for Murray.

Josh Steffensmeier, a student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, says Murray now understands the pressures of being a public figure.

“She knows her impact now and I think she can definitely use that and make something of it and build on that,” he said. “I think she has so much potential to be a great leader and grow on the team.”

SEE ALSO: Nebraska Volleyball Team’s Harper Murray Charged with Lincoln Scheels Ring Theft

Another student said he believes Murray should have received a harsher punishment.

“I personally think there should have been maybe more consequences for her,” Max Matras said. “I feel like they let her get away with it too easily.”

But he thinks Murray is already over the worst.