Ex-Rutgers coach Mike Rice named interim head coach at New Jersey high school powerhouse
More than 32 months after he had been fired by Rutgers, Mike Rice has received another head-coaching job.
On Sunday, Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.com and SNY reported that Rice was named interim head coach of the Patrick School, a prep powerhouse in Elizabeth, NJ. Rice will serve in that role through December and will stay on as a special assistant to head coach (and the school's principal) Chris Chavannes.
Rice was fired in April 2013 when a video surfaced of him verbally and physically abusing his players in practices. The hours of practice footage, leaked by former assistant Eric Murdock, showed Rice pushing and throwing basketballs at players, while also using homophobic slurs directed at this team.
"I'm excited and thankful for the opportunity," Rice told SNY.tv Sunday. "Whatever I can do to help The Patrick School student-athletes and Chris, I will."
"In recent years, Mike has built a diversified resume in the game," Chavannes said in a statement. "He has attended an extensive anger management program as well as a GLSEN workshop in Chicago focusing on LGBT issues that high school students face. Further, he has worked with John Lucas Enterprises, including the NBA pre-draft camp, the NBA players Association camp and his grade school and middle school camps."
Rice was originally suspended three games in December 2012, but when the video surfaced he was quickly removed from his position.
He was 44–51 at Rutgers, taking over the program after leading Robert Morris to back-to-back NCAA tournaments in 2009 and 2010.
The Patrick School opened once St. Patrick High School, which produced Kyrie Irving and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, closed in 2012. The team's current roster includes Harvard commit Bryce Aiken.
