Michael Thomas Rice Jr. (born February 13, 1969) is an American

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

coach, formerly the head men's basketball coach at

Robert Morris University Robert Morris University (RMU) is a private university in Moon Township, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1921 and is named after Robert Morris (financier), Robert Morris, known as the "financier of the American Revolution". It enr ...

and later

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

. He is the son of former college basketball coach and

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (N ...

announcer Mike Rice. In 2009, he helped lead Robert Morris to its first NCAA tournament since 1992. Rice gained national attention in 2013, when

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

aired Rutgers practice videos showing the coach verbally and physically abusing players. Rice was fired the next day. He resides in

Little Silver, New Jersey Little Silver is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 6,131, an increase of 181 (+3.0%) from the 2010 ...

Overview

Rice was born in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, to Kathy and Mike Rice. He attended Boardman High School in

Boardman, Ohio Boardman Township is one of the fourteen townships of Mahoning County, Ohio, United States. The population was 40,213 at the 2020 census. It is a suburb directly south of Youngstown and the second-largest municipality in the Youngstown–Warre ...

where he was a three-year starter as a basketball guard. He was a three-year starter for the

Fordham University Fordham University is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in New York City, United States. Established in 1841, it is named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its origina ...

basketball team from 1988 to 1991 and was captain of the team his senior year when Fordham went to the

National Invitation Tournament The National Invitation Tournament (NIT) is an annual men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Since 2023, all rounds of the tournament are played at various sites across the country whi ...

. He received a bachelor's degree in communication. After graduation he was an assistant coach at several programs including Fordham 1991–1994;

Marquette University Marquette University () is a Private university, private Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It was established as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, by John Henni, the first Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Ar ...

1994–1997;

Niagara University Niagara University (NU) is a private Catholic university in the Vincentian tradition in the census-designated place Niagara University, New York, in the town of Lewiston near Niagara Falls. It is run by the Congregation of the Mission and ...

1997–1998;

Chicago State University Chicago State University (CSU) is a Historically black colleges and universities, predominantly black (PBI) public university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It includes an honors program for undergraduates and offers bachelor's and master ...

1998–2001;

St. Joseph's University Saint Joseph's University (SJU or St. Joe's) is a private Jesuit university in Philadelphia, Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania, and Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The university was founded by the Society of Jesus in 1851 as Saint Joseph's College ...

2004–2006; and

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

2006–2007. In addition he was associated with the Hoop Group in Neptune, New Jersey from 2001 to 2004 where he was director of the Eastern Invitational Basketball Camp. In 2007, he became head coach at Robert Morris University, and in 2010 he became head coach of Rutgers University.

Rutgers University suspension and firing

On December 13, 2012, Rice was suspended three games without pay and fined $50,000 for abusive behavior toward his players. The suspension came after athletic director Tim Pernetti obtained video footage from a practice during either Rice's first or second season at Rutgers, at which Rice was seen throwing basketballs at players' heads and cursing at them. Assistant coach David Cox led the team during Rice's suspension. As part of the suspension, Rice was not only banned from any contact with his players or going on recruiting visits, but was banned from coming onto campus altogether. Pernetti characterized the suspension as "a complete removal from the program," but stated that Rice would return to Rutgers for the 2013–14 season pending a review of his behavior. The situation changed dramatically on April 2, 2013, when

's ''

Outside the Lines ''Outside the Lines'' is an American sports news and analysis program that was broadcast by ESPN from 1990 to 2022. The series featured segments with discussions and investigative journalism surrounding prominent headlines and topics within spor ...

'' aired several hours of video from Rice's practices. According to ESPN, the video, provided to Pernetti by then-assistant coach

Eric Murdock Eric Lloyd Murdock (born June 14, 1968), nicknamed "Man of Steal", is an American former professional basketball player who was selected by the Utah Jazz in the first round (21st pick overall) of the 1991 NBA draft. Biography Murdock grew up ...

, showed Rice berating, pushing, kicking, cursing, using

homophobic Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who identify or are perceived as being lesbian, Gay men, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, or ant ...

slurs, and throwing basketballs at players during practices. Murdock said that he first told Pernetti about the abuse in the summer of 2012, but Pernetti took no action until he and other Rutgers officials saw the video in December. Murdock claims he was fired in July for reporting the abuse, and sued Rutgers for wrongful termination. An independent investigation found that there was insufficient evidence to support Murdock's claims that Rice created a hostile work environment. It also found the video was not in context, since it depicted practices from Rice's first year at Rutgers. However, it did find that Rice's actions brought "shame and disgrace" to Rutgers–on paper, grounds to fire Rice for cause regardless of the merits of Murdock's claims. Pernetti later said that his gut feeling had been to fire Rice on the spot, but ultimately concluded that Rutgers policy would not justify a firing. The video touched off a nationwide outcry, with

New Jersey Governor The governor of New Jersey is the head of government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. The office of governor is an elected position with a four-year term. There is a two consecutive term limit, with no limitation on non-consecutive terms. The ...

Chris Christie Christopher James Christie (born September 6, 1962) is an American politician and former United States Attorney, federal prosecutor who served as the 55th governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018. A member of the Republican Party (United States) ...

condemning Rice's behavior, and

State Assembly State Assembly is the name given to various legislatures, especially lower houses or full legislatures in states in federal systems of government. Channel Islands States Assembly is the name of the legislature of the Bailiwick of Jersey. The Baili ...

Speaker

Sheila Oliver Sheila Yvette Oliver (July 14, 1952 – August 1, 2023) was an American politician who served as the second lieutenant governor of New Jersey from 2018 until her death in 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, Oliver was the first Black woman ...

among many demanding that Rice be fired. The next day, Rutgers fired Rice as head coach. According to '' The (Newark) Star-Ledger'', the move came after school president Robert Barchi saw the video for the first time, although he had signed off on Pernetti's decision to suspend Rice in December. When Barchi saw the video, he called in Pernetti and told him that Rice had to leave immediately. Barchi held Pernetti responsible for the debacle, and decided on the night he watched the DVD that Pernetti had to go as well. According to ''

The Record The Record may refer to: Music * The Record (Fear album), ''The Record'' (Fear album), a 1982 studio album by the hardcore-punk band Fear * The Record (Boygenius album), ''The Record'' (Boygenius album), a 2023 studio album by the indie rock supe ...

,'' on the same day Rice's firing was announced, Barchi told Pernetti to resign or be fired. Pernetti resigned two days later. In a post-mortem of the circumstances leading to Rice's firing, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' reported that Rutgers officials were so focused on whether Rice created a hostile work environment for his assistants that they ignored "the larger question" of whether Rice's behavior toward his players in and of itself demanded his firing.

Head coaching record

College

* Rice was suspended by Rutgers for three games in December 2012. Assistant coach David Cox served as interim coach during Rice's suspension, but Rutgers credits the entire 2012–13 season to Rice.

References