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Yet!I'm not watching a single game.
The dismissal of Mike Rice from Rutgers University in New Jersey was effective immediately, a college spokesman said. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and NBA star LeBron James were among those who condemned the coach's conduct. Mr Rice apologised on Wednesday, saying there was no excuse for his actions captured on video. He was recruited in 2010 to be head basketball coach at Rutgers, which finished last season near the bottom of their league, the prestigious Big East Conference. "I've let so many people down: my players, my administration, Rutgers University, the fans," Mr Rice told ABC News in an interview outside his home on Wednesday. "My family [are] sitting in their house just huddled around because of the fact that their father was an embarrassment to them."
Rutgers was already aware of coach Mike Rice's behaviour
'Disturbing behaviour'
Featuring clips shot between 2010-12, the video aired on sports network ESPN shows Mr Rice shouting obscenities, hurling balls at team members, as well as kicking and grabbing them. Rutgers athletic director Tim Pernetti reportedly viewed the footage late last year. The university then suspended Mr Rice for three games, fined him $75,000 (£50,000) and ordered him to attend anger management classes. On Wednesday, Rutgers President Robert Barchi said in a statement on the university website: "Coach Rice's abusive language and actions are deeply offensive and egregiously violate the university's core values."
Mr Barchi added that the video revealed a "chronic and pervasive pattern of disturbing behaviour", which led to his dismissal. The decision to fire Mr Rice comes amid mounting pressure at both state and national level for the university to take action. Gov Christie said in a statement that he was "deeply disturbed" by the footage. "This was a regrettable episode for the university, but I completely support the decision to remove Coach Rice," he said. New Jersey Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver said the coach's conduct was "unbecoming of our state". She called for an investigation into why Rutgers decided not to fire Mr Rice when it first became aware of the video.
Miami Heat forward LeBron James was among those who criticised the shamed college coach
One of the most famous basketball players in the US, the Miami Heat forward LeBron James, tweeted: "If my son played for Rutgers or a coach like that he would have some real explaining to do and I'm still gone whoop on him afterwards! C'mon.'' Athletic director Mr Pernetti apologised for not taking more robust action when the footage first came to his attention. "I am responsible for the decision to attempt a rehabilitation of Coach Rice," he said in a written statement. Saying that Rutgers had considered firing him at the time, Mr Pernetti added: "I thought it was in the best interest of everyone to rehabilitate, but I was wrong."
BBC News - Basketball coach Mike Rice sacked by Rutgers University
The firing of Rutgers University men's basketball coach Mike Rice on Wednesday had some activists and elected officials applauding an action they said was months overdue, and others suggesting the need for a wider investigation. "It was the right and necessary action to take in light of the conduct displayed on the videotape," Gov. Christie said in a statement. Thirteen faculty members went further, demanding the resignation of school President Robert Barchi, citing a slow response to the video showing Rice angrily hitting, shoving and throwing balls at players during practices, and using anti-gay slurs.
The ESPN video, which was broadcast Tuesday and instantly went viral, was particularly upsetting at the university where 18-year-old freshman Tyler Clementi committed suicide three years ago after fellow students used a webcam to spy on him kissing another man. The professors' two-page letter to Rutgers Board of Governors and trustees said Barchi - who arrived in September after eight years as president of Thomas Jefferson University and also had been provost of the University of Pennsylvania - only fired Rice "after media attention forced him to do so."
The letter said Barchi showed a pattern of "insensitivity and arrogance" toward diversity. "Although President Barchi is now suggesting otherwise, he has known about Coach Rice's homophobic, misogynist, and abusive behavior for several months now," it said. "Not only did he not fire Coach Rice, he in essence covered up the Coach's actions by failing to tell faculty and students about them." In fact, the faculty wrote, Barchi renewed Rice's contract around the same time the school learned of the video.
Other reaction around the state was not quite as pointed. The incident "shows us that physical and emotional abuse of college students by faculty is occurring right under our noses," said U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (D., N.J.), who along with Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D., N.J.) has proposed legislation named for Clementi that would prohibit harassment of college students by other students, faculty, and staff. Clementi's parents, Joseph and Jane Clementi, released a statement Wednesday praising the university for firing the third-year coach and trying to be more inclusive of vulnerable students. "All students require safe environments to learn and reach their full potential, and Coach Rice's conduct has no place on a campus that is devoted to learning and fostering a sense of community," the couple said.
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Last Wednesday, John Doleva, the president of the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame, called seven people to tell them they'd in the class of 2013. Pitino was one of the seven. "When I got the call I was trying to call my wife over so she could hear it and I'm trying to put it on speaker phone and a text keeps beeping as I'm getting this special call," Pitino said Monday, just hours before he led Louisville against Michigan in the national championship game. "I saw the text. 'Go Gophers. I got the job.'" It was his son, Richard, who had just found out he was chosen to be the head coach at Minnesota. It's been that kind of week for Pitino, who is among 12 people overall who will join the class of 2013.
The others announced Monday at a ceremony at the Final Four were college coaches Guy Lewis of Houston, Jerry Tarkanian of UNLV and Sylvia Hatchell of North Carolina, former NBA stars Bernard King and Gary Payton and former University of Virginia star Dawn Staley. The inductions will take place in Springfield, Mass., on Sept. 8. Inductees announced previously were: Edwin E.B. Henderson, a direct elect by the Early African Pioneer Committee; longtime Indiana Pacers guard Roger Brown; Oscar Schmidt of Brazil, the leading scorer in Olympic history; Richie Guerin, a star for the New York Knicks in the 1950s; and, Russ Granik, the longtime assistant commissioner of the NBA.
Louisville coach Rick Pitino talks with CBS announcer Jim Nantz, left, during the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame class announcement, Monday, April 8, 2013, in Atlanta, Georgia.
It was Pitino, however, who stole the show. His Cardinals are in the championship game and a win would make him the first coach to win a title at two schools. He won it all with Kentucky in 1996. On Saturday, Goldencents, a horse which Pitino co-owns, won the Santa Anita Derby, a major prep race for the Kentucky Derby. "I was looking around for lightning," Pitino joked. "This was such a special moment." Pitino, the only coach to take three schools to the Final Four, has won 661 games in 28 seasons as a college coach and his 47-16 record in the NCAA tournament is the third-highest winning percentage among active coaches. He also had two stints in the NBA with the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks. When he was a young assistant with the Knicks from 1983-85, Pitino forged a relationship with King, one of the most feared scorers in his playing days.
"I remember Rick as a very young coach, a coach starting his career, a coach who knew the game," said King, who averaged 22.0 points in his 15-year NBA career, including averaging 34.8 points in the 1984 NBA playoffs. "I remember Rick came with me to the NBA All-Star game and we were flying from Denver to San Antonio. We talked a lot about that even though we had some injuries we had to get off to a good start. "That first game in San Antonio I scored 50 points. The next day in Dallas I had a milk shake and a turkey sandwich and scored 50 points again. I guess you can say this is the culmination of my life in basketball."
More Pitino leads class of 7 into Naismith Hall of Fame
