The Mike Rice scandal at Rutgers is far from over. After firing Rice, the Men’s Basketball Coach, and athletic Director Tim Pernetti resigning, the university announced that it will be launching an independent review into the entire situation, according to ESPN.com.
The review will examine both the behavior of Mike Rice, as well as how the university handled the situation from the time the video first came out to the present.
Rice was fired after video surfaced on ESPN’s “Outside the Lines”, of him physically abusing his players and yelling gay slurs at them. Pernetti stepped down after at least 50 faculty members called for his job are learning that Pernetti had known about the video since November 2012. He'd given Rice just a 3-game suspension and $50,000 fine.
In the wake of the departure of Rice and Pernetti, (and the resigning of assistant coach Jimmy Martelli) community members and faculty have asked that university president Robert Barchi to resign. However, unlike Rice, the institution’s board of governors, and New Jersey Mayor Chris Christie, has shown their support for Barchi.
The independent review is not the only investigation that has been produced in the fallout of the scandal. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is looking into Eric Murdock, according to a source who spoke to ESPN, for extortion.
The former director of player development for the basketball team, reportedly asked for money before recording the practices that would eventually lead to Rice’s firing. Murdock, who was let go by Rice and Pernetti in July, is currently suing the school for wrongful termination.
During the fallout it was released that Barchi had not seen the video until it was made public on ESPN’s “Outside the Lines”.
Ralph Izzo, the chairman of the board of governors, said on Monday that only one board member had seen the video back in December. That one board member was Mark P. Hershhorn, the athletics committee chairman. While he was the only board member to see it at that time, the whole board would discuss the coach’s behavior later in the month.
The board of governors is scheduled to meet Thursday to discuss hiring the independent advisor.
