Rutgers Fires Mike Rice After Leaked Video Surfaces

Rutgers fired basketball coach Mike Rice on Wednesday morning one day after a leaked video aired that captured Rice shoving, berating and throwing balls at players during past practice sessions. Though Rice was suspended for three games, fined $50,000 and ordered to take anger management classes in December for his actions, the video that aired on ESPN's "Outside The Lines" on Tuesday brought renewed criticism from fans, alumni and others, including New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. (View the video above.)

The school said it made the decision to terminate Rice after revisiting his conduct after the video aired, indicating new information and "a review of previously discovered issues" as grounds for the firing. The December suspension was metered out by university athletic director Tim Pernetti and endorsed by president Robert Barchi, each of whom viewed the video prior to Tuesday. Eric Murdock, former director of player development for Rutgers, provided the video to them.

While Murdock was fired this past July — and is pursuing a wrongful termination lawsuit — Pernetti and Barchi remain in their roles despite viewing the video and deciding on a much lighter punishment in December. Many critics believe that they, too, should pay with their jobs for allowing Rice to stay for another season after seeing documented evidence of his chronically abusive behavior.

"I am responsible for the decision to attempt a rehabilitation of Coach Rice," Pernetti said. "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 interviewed in front of his home on Wednesday after his termination was announced.

"It's troubling, but I will at some time, maybe I'll try to explain it, but right now, there's no explanation for what's on those films," Rice said. "Because there is no excuse for it. I was wrong. I want to tell everybody who's believed in me that I'm deeply sorry for the pain and hardship that I've caused."

No replacement was named. The university said it intended to hold a national search.