Rutgers Fires Basketball Coach Mike Rice

Rutgers head basketball coach Mike Rice has been fired.

It's as a result of some shocking footage aired by ESPN's Outside The Lines. It shows the Rutgers men's basketball head coach throwing basketballs at close range at his players, sometimes their heads, shoving and grabbing them, and screaming homophobic slurs and obscenities at them.

Rutgers' athletic director Tim Pernetti was shown some of the video in late fall of last year. He conducted a week long investigation and then suspended rice for three games and fined him $50,000. Pernetti cited in his report, "inappropriate behavior and language".

Pernetti said in a statement on the Rutgers athletics website: “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.”

Jerry Carino, a sports reporter in New Jersey, told Here &  Now's Robin Young that he believes the initial decision to try to keep Rice on had to do with financial considerations.