Mike Rice was suspended as head coach of the Rutgers basketball team back in December and was fined $50,000 for his actions and now the world knows why, as ESPN and Outside the Lines aired video of the coach abusing players in practice.
According to ESPN.com, the show was able to obtain numerous tapes of practices and other footage that clearly shows Rice berating and abusing players, including by shoving, punching, bumping and kicking them in practice. The footage also shows him throwing balls at players heads and limbs while also saying homophobic obscenities, including "fa--ots," "mother----ers," "pu--ies," "sissy b-tches," and "c--ts."
The report says that the footage was seen in December by athletic director Tim Pernetti, who later suspended Rice three games and fined him, but after the video was released, it appeared the AD hid the actual vulgarity and seriousness of the incident. At the timer he said that it was due to "inappropriate behavior and language" as why he was suspended, but the footage clearly shows more than just that.
Some players transferred due to the incidents, including forward Gilvydas Biruta, said Eric Murdock, an ex-NBA player and a former director of player development for the Scarlet Knights. The footage shows Rice getting very physical with players and throwing balls extremely hard at them, including one at Biruta's head.
"The one thing I hated," Murdock said of Rice, "he would always talk about 'Lithuanian this, Lithuanian that,' talk about where he's from -- 'soft-ass Lithuanian b--ch," soft-ass Lithuanian pu--y.' His nickname was basically 'Lithuanian fa--ot.' "
Rice was originally hired from Robert Morris, where he also was caught abusing on video, this time verbally with referees. He is currently in a five-year contract with the team and after starting 11-3, Rutgers limped along and ended the year 15-16 after going just 5-13 in the Big East Conference.
