Rutgers has relieved athletic director Tim Pernetti of his duties, multiple sources reported Friday morning. Rutgers president Robert L. Barchi confirmed at a news conference Friday afternoon that Pernetti resigned from his position.
Pernetti’s firing comes days after practice tapes were leaked to ESPN’s Outside the Lines that showed now-former men’s basketball coach Mike Rice hurling basketballs at players and berating them with profanity and homophobic slurs.
Rice was dismissed by the school on Wednesday, and assistant coach Jimmy Martelli, who could be seen shoving and yelling at players in one of the videos, voluntarily resigned later that day.
“I am sickened that as an assistant coach I contributed in any way to an unacceptable culture,” Martelli said in a statement released to The Associated Press. “Wednesday I resigned from Rutgers, and I hope that coaches on all levels will learn something important from these events.”
Reports indicated that Pernetti had originally viewed the tapes in question back in December, after which he assessed Rice a three-game suspension and a $50,000 fine. He continued to support Rice in the immediate aftermath of the tapes’ public release but drew backlash for not firing the coach when he first became aware of Rice’s inappropriate behavior four months ago.
