Mike Rice has become a household name over the past two weeks for all the wrong reasons. Most of you have likely seen the disturbing video of Rice verbally and physically abusing his former Rutgers players by now, which has led many to conclude that he has no business coaching at all. However, it sounds like he has landed another gig coaching 12-year-old girls.
On Sunday, a Deadspin report citing Brian Geltzeiler of hoopscritic.com indicated that Rice was coaching 12-year-old girls in AAU ball over the weekend. Geltzeiler claimed in a series of tweets that a friend of his was at the game (his daughter was on the opposing team) and that Rice seemed like his usual animated self.
One of my moles is watching Mike Rice coach 12 year old girls at Holmdel High in NJ right now as crazy as ever yelling @ both refs and kids
— Brian Geltzeiler (@hoopscritic) April 14, 2013
Just this afternoon Rice told a 12 year old girl,”I can’t even look at you” and the ref told my guy he would have T’d him up 2x if it was HS
— Brian Geltzeiler (@hoopscritic) April 14, 2013
A source has reportedly confirmed to SNY.tv (via The South Jersey Times) that Rice is indeed coaching a girl’s AAU team and that he was coaching them while he was still at Rutgers. However, that same source said that Geltzeiler’s account of the way Rice was acting is in no way accurate.
“The Deadspin report is a gross misrepresentation of the facts,” the source reportedly said. “The team’s parents are fully behind Coach Rice and his instruction of their daughters.”
Whether Rice was acting “crazy” or not, the thought of him coaching children is still disturbing. This is the same guy who repeatedly threw basketballs at his players’ heads and yelled homophobic obscenities at them. He later apologized for his actions and said he has no excuse for the way he acted, but Rice looks like a guy with anger management issues. People like that should not be mentoring youngsters.
