*Second FAN SUBMISSION by Charles Kruzits. Follow him on Twitter @Kruzindirty.”
Mike Rice was supposed to take the Rutgers Scarlet Knights to new heights, when he was brought on after a successful stint with Robert Morris University. But three malign seasons later and a jaw-dropping video tape have spelled the demise of his tenure with Rutgers.
This wasn’t the type of video tape that made the likes of Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian famous, it was worse.
Through the numerous hours of footage dating between 2010 and 2012 from multiple Rutgers practices, Rice is seen throwing basketballs at his player’s heads, grabbing and pushing them with full-force, and all the while, using anti-gay and other hateful slurs.
The Athletic Director for Rutgers, Tim Pernetti, had this evidence sitting on his desk in November and decided that a three-game suspension and a $50,000 fine would be sufficient along with making Rice enroll in anger management courses.
Courtesy: CBS News
But, it wasn’t until ESPN and Outside the Lines revealed the footage of Rice manhandling and belittling his players to the public, that Pernetti and Rutgers gave Rice the boot. Along with the airing on ESPN’s investigatory reporting show, it was Eric Murdock that helped end this abusive relationship.
Murdock, a first round pick in the 1991 NBA Draft, served as director of player development under Rice and is the man responsible for the footage seeing the light of day. The man who was responsible for providing the footage to Pernetti initially, did not have his contract renewed by Rutgers, believing that he wasn’t brought back because he spoke up on the abuse that he witnessed. Murdock is suing Rutgers believing that he was wrongfully terminated, which in the state of New Jersey is unlawful.
The son of long-time Portland Trail Blazers color commentator Mike Rice Sr., Rice parlayed his success with Robert Morris into a household name amongst the bright young coaches in the game. He led the Colonials to two NCAA Tournament berths and an NIT entry while competing in the Northeast Conference. After three losing seasons though, the aura that once surrounded Rice diminished. His temper tantrums on the sidelines became quite the spectacle as well.
Rice was relieved of his duties just one day after the news and footage broke. The former coach stood outside of his home in Little Silver, New Jersey and issued an apology stating, “I was going to try and work on changing and I think I accomplished a lot of that. I can’t say much but I am sorry and there will never be a time where I can use that as an excuse…I let my players, fans, family, and Rutgers down.”
His apology was heartfelt, but, it was too little too late.
Similar to a child who’s caught in the act, “are you sorry you did it, or sorry because you got caught?”
I believe Rice will be able to rebound from this because people deserve a second chance. Nonetheless, his allure is gone, and his reputation will never replete. Even though the antagonist was removed, there’s still more people that will be affected. Pernetti needs to be reprimanded, and in my opinion, he should relinquish his position at Rutgers. As the athletic director he should always have the best interest of the student-athletes at hand and when he proves that he is inept in
that department, he needs to go.
This isn’t as scandalous as the Penn State tragedy, but this appalling event will set the tone for years to come. This will remind all coaches that first and foremost, it’s never acceptable to dehumanize any person, let alone those that call you coach and look to you for guidance and approval.
