A report surfaced last night revealing the FBI is investigating Eric Murdock, the former director of basketball player development at Rutgers, to determine whether Murdock tried to extort money from the university.
It was Murdock who first brought the conduct of former coach Mike Rice to the administration’s attention. Rice was fired on Wednesday after three seasons on the Scarlet Knights bench.
According to the report on The New York Times’ website, which cited two people familiar with the investigation, an FBI agent recently visited the office of Tim Pernetti, who resigned Friday as the school’s athletic director.
In December, the story said, a lawyer representing Murdock, a former NBA player, sent a letter to the university demanding $950,000. The letter was sent shortly after Rice was suspended for three games for the abusive conduct toward his players that led to his firing.
Rutgers refused to pay the money requested. Murdock, who made $70,000 his last year as a university employee, subsequently made available the video footage from practices that showed Rice kicking his players, striking them with basketballs and taunting them with homophobic slurs.
Murdock, who said he went to Pernetti with complaints about the way Rice treated his players last summer, filed a wrongful termination suit against Rutgers and several university officials on Friday, claiming he was let go for being a whistle-blower.
Pernetti has said he didn’t fire Murdock, but simply didn’t renew his contract for the 2012-13 season.
The FBI, citing policy, refused to confirm or deny the existence of any investigation, the report said.