A lot has happened in the world of college athletics this past week. NCAA President, Mark Emmert, has been under fire from press regarding his dodgy past, former FGCU Men’s basketball coach Andy Endfield accepted a multi-million dollar, six year contract at USC, Kevin Ware received national attention for his brutal injury, but perhaps most newsworthy is the video that surfaced from Rutgers University showing former head basketball coach Mike Rice physically and verbally abusing his athletes.
As a current NCAA student-athlete and aspiring collegiate coach, I could not believe my eyes when I watched the tape showing Rice throwing basketballs at player’s heads and using derogatory and homophobic language to “encourage” his players to work harder. While coaching styles vary greatly – all the way from the passive recreational coaches of our youth to the most intense, undermining, chair throwing ones– there is no one style that has proven successful. I’ve had my fair share of screaming coaches, who thought they could encourage a group of 16 year old girls by yelling at the top of their lungs, but perhaps my most influential coaches were the ones who actually treated me with respect, mentored me, and made the game fun, yet still competitive.
This incident brings forth a number of questions with regard to coaching hires across the board in college athletics. While most coaches undergo basic training to ensure they understand the rules and regulations of their respective coaching division, there is a lack of coaching education in the United States, which unfortunately leads to cases like this. I do not recall in any of my classes or experiences, being taught the importance of belittling other people to push them the extra distance, nor do I recall ever being told that it was okay to abuse somebody physically. It just goes to show that reform within the NCAA is of the utmost importance at this point.
On Friday it came out that Rutgers fired the athletic director Tim Pernetti, which may confuse some people. Although there are advocates for keeping the AD around, the athletic department knew about the abuse scandal because people had reported the behavior, similar to the Penn State Football (Sandusky Case). Ian Diatlo, a former student manager noted to the press that the Rutgers athletic administration “was really turning a blind eye to it.” It’s one thing to try to protect an athletic department, and another to protect an individual. The results will always be the same if you try to cover something up – the truth always has a way of coming out.
The bottom line stands that no athlete should have to endure a coach that abuses him or her. Sports, for many, despite being über competitive at the Division I level, are a sanctuary, usually a place where athletes can escape the craziness outside the gym. Mike Rice ruined that for those young men. There are no excuses for Mike Rice’s behavior and the athletic department’s lack of action and in my opinion, they owe the school, the families of current and former players who trusted them, and the young men he coached a massive apology. While there is nothing Rice can say nor do to take back the horrible things he did, the only thing we can do is learn and protect future athletes from this horrific and shocking behavior.