Mike Rice, the head coach of Rutgers' men's basketball team since 2010, has been fired, according to reports. Rice was embroiled in a controversy stemming from a leaked video showing Rice verbally and physically abusing his players.
In the video, Rice is seen hurling insults at players, using gay slurs, calling them sissies, and questioning their manhood. The abuse goes further, as he forcefully grabs several players by their shirts and drags them into proper position or shoves them there. He is also seen chucking basketballs at them, throwing a ball at one player's head, and kicking another player.
Rutgers athletic director Tim Pernetti was shown this video in November of 2012, but kept it in house and suspended Rice for three games. At the time, Pernetti had said, "I was made aware of some things within the last couple of weeks. We commenced a thorough, lengthy and fair investigation and this was the result of that investigation," Pernetti said. "There was obviously some things that are not to the Rutgers' standard that we evaluated and decided upon."
Now, as the video has become public, Rutgers was under heavy fire for not immediately firing Rice. Under scrutiny, Pernetti has changed course.
Pernetti said in an e-mail, "I am responsible for the decision to attempt a rehabilitation of Coach Rice. Dismissal and corrective action were debated in December and I thought it was in the best interest of everyone to rehabilitate, but I was wrong. Moving forward, I will work to regain the trust of the Rutgers community."
Rice was successful in his first NCAA Division I coaching stop, leading Robert Morris University to two consecutive NCAA tournaments before leaving to coach at Rutgers. He didn't enjoy the same success with the Scarlet Knights, however, compiling a 44-51 record in three seasons, never reaching the NCAA tournament, and never having a winning season. Under Rice, Rutgers' best record in the Big East was 6-12, and his total Big East record was an underwhelming 16-38.
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