Rutgers fires Mike Rice

Rutgers University's athletic department announced Wednesday morning that the program has fired head men's basketball coach Mike Rice.

"Based upon recently revealed information and a review of previously discovered issues, Rutgers has terminated the contract of Mike Rice," the athletic department announced via Twitter.

The firing comes in the wake of a report by ESPN's "Outside The Lines" program on Tuesday which showed video of Rice abusing players.

The footage shows numerous clips of Rice at practice firing basketballs at players, hitting them in the back, legs, feet and shoulders. Rice was also shown pushing players in the chest and grabbing them by their jerseys and yanking them around the court. Rice could be heard yelling obscenities at players and using gay slurs.

"I am responsible for the decision to attempt a rehabilitation of Coach Rice," Rutgers athletic director Tim Pernetti said in a statement. "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."

The video of Rice abusing players was reportedly brought to light by Eric Murdock, a former director of player development with the Rutgers basketball program. Murdock showed footage of incidents involving Rice to Pernetti last year, and claimed that Rice engaged in such actions dating back to 2010.

Murdock was let go last July. He has accused the school of dismissing him because he took his concerns over Rice's actions to Pernetti. Murdock is now planning to sue the school for wrongful termination.

Although the footage of Rice that ESPN broadcast had not been seen in public before, Rice's hot temper has been well-known for some time. Last December, Rutgers suspended Rice for three games and fined him $50,000 as punishment for his actions.

At the time, Pernetti and Rutgers president Robert Barchi - a former provost at the University of Pennsylvania - declared the punishment to be sufficient. The ESPN report, though, cast Rice's actions in a new light. Whereas Rice's past actions drew criticism mainly from within the Northeast corridor, on Tuesday Rutgers found itself subjected to national criticism.

In a statement issued by the school Wednesday morning, Barchi addressed the past and present chapters of Rice's tenure at Rutgers.

"When video excerpts of basketball practices were reviewed last fall by Athletic Director Tim Pernetti, he immediately notified me and sought the advice of internal and outside counsel," Barchi said. "Tim Pernetti also made it clear to Coach Rice that there would be zero tolerance for additional infractions. Tim kept me fully apprised and I supported his actions."

Barchi said he watched the video of Rice's actions on Tuesday, and described what he saw as "a chronic and pervasive pattern of disturbing behavior."

"I have now reached the conclusion that Coach Rice cannot continue to serve effectively in a position that demands the highest levels of leadership, responsibility and public accountability," Barchi said. "He cannot continue to coach at Rutgers University."

In addition to calls for Rice's dismissal from across the college basketball community, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and state senate president Stephen Sweeney called for Rice to be fired.

"This was a regrettable episode for the University, but I completely support the decision to remove Coach Rice," Christie said in a statement Wednesday morning. "The way these young men were treated by the head coach was completely unacceptable and violates the trust those parents put in Rutgers University."

Rice's coaching history includes ties to Philadelphia. He was an assistant coach at Saint Joseph's from 2004 to 2006. Rice maintained his ties to Hawk Hill when he arrived at Rutgers, hiring Jimmy Martelli - the son of St. Joe's head coach Phil Martelli.

After a year as an assistant at Pittsburgh, Rice took the head coaching job at Robert Morris in 2007. He led the school to two NCAA tournament appearances, including a close loss to Villanova in 2010. That put Rice in the national spotlight, and a few months later Rutgers hired him.

The Scarlet Knights had an opening at the time because of the unexpected dismissal of Fred Hill, Jr. Rice, who has strong New Jersey recruiting roots, seemed like a good fit.

But he wasn't able to push Rutgers into the upper echelon of the powerful Big East conference. Nor was he able to end the program's NCAA tournament drought, which dates back to 1991. Rice went just 44-51 in three seasons at Rutgers, including a 16-38 mark in the Big East. The Scarlet Knights went 15-16 this season and 5-13 in the league.

This article contains information from The Associated Press.