Now we know why Mike Rice was suspended. And it may not be his final penalty.
Explosive footage of the Rutgers basketball coach, aired Tuesday on ESPN’s “Outside the Lines,” shows an enraged Rice shoving and kicking players, pegging basketballs at players’ heads and bodies and screaming obscenities, including an anti-gay slur.
Athletic director Tim Pernetti simply termed the conduct “inappropriate behavior and language” when Rice was suspended for three games and fined $50,000 in December.
At one point in the video compilation, Rice is heard screaming at a player, “You f—ing fairy, you’re a f—ing f—-t.” Pernetti said the slur was “at the core of the suspension.” Rice also calls Rutgers players “motherf—–s,” “p—–s,” “sissy b—–s” and “c—s.”
Initially, in an interview on ESPN, Pernetti stood by his decision to merely suspend Rice. But when he went on WFAN about two hours later — and the uproar had begun — he admitted it was time to reconsider Rice’s status.
“I think now that [the videotape] is out there — we knew it was going to get out there,” Pernetti said on WFAN. “The reaction — we knew what it was going to be. I need to sit here and think about what gives us the ability to be effective going forward in men’s basketball, and more importantly, what protects the university.
“There’s a lot of things on my mind right now that I’m thinking through and trying to make sure that whatever decisions I make on a going-forward basis, that we try to make the right one.”
The university sat on the footage — culled from hundreds of practices from 2010-12 — for months until Pernetti screened it for a group of reporters after learning of ESPN’s plans to broadcast it.
“I saw all of it,” Pernetti said on ESPN. “None of that behavior is acceptable under any circumstances at Rutgers.”
Pernetti said the situation — a “first offense” — was handled appropriately and no further action would be taken barring another incident. But now he seems to have other ideas.
Rice, 44, who has two years remaining on a back-loaded five-year, $3.25 million contract, was endorsed by Pernetti after the season, despite his behavior off the court and his results on it, where he has produced a 44-51 record and a 16-38 record in Big East play.
“When I became aware of this in November, within 24 hours we had the investigation underway,” Pernetti told reporters. “I took the DVD with me. I met with Mike later in the day. Within that two-week period we made the determination on what we were going to do. I would tell you that all options were on the table at the time.”
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, according to a statement from Press Secretary Michael Drewniak, was “deeply disturbed by the conduct displayed and strongly condemns this behavior.” The statement also said: “Clearly there are questions about this behavior that need to be answered by the leaders at Rutgers University.”
Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver (D-Essex/Passaic) called Rice’s conduct “unacceptable not only at our state university, but in all circumstances. It is offensive and unbecoming of our state.
“Mike Rice should no longer be employed by Rutgers University,” Oliver said. “He must go. Meanwhile, the decision not to dismiss him last year needs a complete and thorough review.”
During his rounds of crisis management yesterday, Pernetti said the tape had no context and had been seen by school president Robert Barchi, who backed Pernetti’s decision to suspend but not fire Rice. The demonstrative coach, whose fiery persona was well-known when he was hired by Pernetti in March 2010 after coaching at Robert Morris, underwent anger management and had a monitor attend practices after the suspension.
Rice may have gotten the message.
“Everybody who’s returning wants him to stay,” an unnamed Rutgers player told The Post. “As the video showed, it happened, but that was early in his first year. He changed. He stopped that. He got better. He doesn’t do stuff like that anymore. … They picked the worst moments over three years. I’ve spent millions of hours of my life with him in practice, and they picked three minutes. That’s not who he is and not what he’s about.”
In January, Rice told The Post he was learning to control his emotions better upon returning to the team.
“I’m not holding back as far as my energy or my passion or my intensity,” Rice said. “It’s just, I’m being smarter. I’m being more under control. I’m developing as a coach and a teacher. This is going to be the best thing for me.”
The tape came to light after former director of player development Eric Murdock did not have his contract renewed last year, though Murdock claims he was fired and plans to sue for wrongful termination.
Murdock said he first notified Pernetti of Rice’s harsh treatment last summer and Pernetti did not address the issue until December, when Murdock showed the video to Pernetti and other Rutgers officials. Murdock said Rice’s actions caused at least three players to transfer.
“There were some players who couldn’t sleep at night, who wasn’t eating, who didn’t want to come to the gym,” Murdock told ESPN. “You put your [athletic director] shoes on and you witness this video of this coach abusing these players physically, mentally, emotionally, 99.9 percent would have fired that coach on the spot.”
—Additional reporting by Zach Braziller
howard.kussoy@nypost.com