Rutgers Fires Basketball Coach Mike Rice After Video Of Him Abusing Players Goes Public

Rutgers basketball coach Mike Rice has been fired, the school just announced.

Athletic Director Tim Pernetti released the following statement (via Bloomberg's Scott Soshnick):

"I am responsible for the decision to attempt a rehabilitation of Coach Rice. 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 under heavy criticism after ESPN aired video yesterday of him shoving, kicking, and throwing balls at players, as well as verbally abusing them with homophobic slurs.

The school knew about the incidents and saw the video in December. They fined Rice $50,000 and suspended him for three games at the time, but he was only fired after the video went public. According to Richard Deitsch of SI, Rutgers president Robert L. Barchi signed off on the three-game suspension in December.

He had coached the team since 2010.

Here's the shocking video that ultimately got him fired (via ESPN):