Rutgers basketball has been the definition of futility for over two decades, despite being located in New Jersey, which is one of the best states for high school basketball. The Scarlet Knights last made the NCAA tournament in 1991, and outside of a few big upsets at the RAC, a 2004 NIT Championship game appearance (loss) has been as good as it gets in Piscataway. Now, the school is dealing with this:

an internal investigation that revealed abusive, profane language used by Rice toward his players and an incident during his first or second season in which Rice threw basketballs at some players’ heads during practice

He’s been suspended for three games. What is it about coaches and players in practice at Rutgers? Remember Kevin Bannon’s famous naked sprints after a free throw contest in 1997?

During a Christmas-break practice in 1997, Bannon ordered Josh Sankes and Earl Johnson and two student managers to run sprints while naked after they lost a free-throw shooting contest.

Rice will be back in time for a Jan. 2 beatdown at Syracuse. [Star Ledger]