by ANDREA FRENCH Section Editor
Headlines everywhere have been blasting Rutgers basketball coach Mike Rice for his unprofessional coaching skills with his college level basketball players. There was a video leaked from several private practices that show him being unnecessarily rough and using foul language.
Rice coached at a school in suburban Pittsburgh from the years of 2007-2010 before he took the coaching job at the University of Rutgers. As of April 3, Coach Rice has been fired. He was fired one week after the video of emotionally and physically traumatizing practices was released.
As far as the other coaching staff go, there has been a ripple affect. This whole ordeal has caused the athletic director Tim Pernetti to step down, along with the assistant coach, Jimmy Martelli, and the senior vice president of general council and top lawyer John Wolf to step down as well.
Assistant coach Martelli was accused of shoving players and shouting gay slurs for everyone to hear.
All coaches at a college or professional level are extremely tough and hard on their players, but after watching the video leaked from the practices, it is safe to say that he was out of line.
“I think that the video crammed 30 seconds of a couple practices into one and it made the coach been seen in a negative light. He has been coaching for years so it’s somewhat unfair that people don’t get to see all of the good things he has done. But I am not saying that what he did was right because he pegged balls at people,” says sophomore Caitlin Flanagan.
Anyone who has ever been to a Rutgers basketball game can say that Rice was a little out of hand at the games. There have been numerous pictures and videos in the heat of the moment that have showed the craziness in his coaching.
“I think that his coaching style is despicable. And it is sad that no one had the guts to stand up and say something earlier. All former coaches and players who knew about that this just prolonged the inevitable and allowed him to get away with it for all these years,” says sophomore Casey Schieda.
Where does the line get drawn with the player-coach relationship? Players and coaches are notorious for having a strong bond on and off of the court or field. When the video was released to the public, people were outraged, and all I want to know is what the other players thought. Do they think that his coaching style is why they were so succesful, or were they just as terrified as the public was?
All coaches, and those in charge, care about is how well the team does. If the team does well and wins games, then the school gets more funding for the sports program, so how long does it take for a coach with anger management who does really well to be noticed? Apparently it takes longer then anyone would think.
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