by Fitzgerald Cecilio

New Brunswick, NJ

Rutgers University has agreed to pay dismissed basketball head coach Mike Rice $475,000 as settlement for the remaining two years of his contract.

"Tonight's agreement is in the best interests of the university, and I am pleased this issue has been resolved," Rutgers President Robert Barchi said in a statement.

The settlement for Rice is far less than the $1.1 million he was due for the final two years of his five-year contract with the Scarlet Knights.

Under the agreement, Rice will receive an initial $375,000 payment, then a second $100,000 payment, in lieu of any bonuses he was due under his contract. Both sides also agreed that no cause for termination will be provided.

Rice was fired after a video showing him shouting profanities and hitting players at practices. Barchi initially suspended and fined Rice $50,000 in December, but reversed his decision after the video was made public.

The settlement came hours after Barchi testified before the Assembly budget committee, where he claimed that he never agreed to paying any funds to Rice and that he would fight such a move in court if needed.

"This is my position, that he is not entitled to any severance," he said. "I will not budge off of that."

Barchi also echoed language in Rice's contract, which states the coach could be fired "for cause" for bringing shame to Rutgers.

"My personal position is the university was damaged by his actions," Barchi said. "Frankly, I'll have that discussion in court if I have to. ... I'm going to be pretty hard to budge."

However, with the settlement, Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver said that " Barchi wasn't too hard to budge after all".

After the Rice video surfaced, Rutgers athletic director Tim Pernetti and top lawyer John Wolf both resigned.

The two both signed settlement agreements in exchange for their resignations, with Pernetti receiving $1.2 million and Wolf earning a $420,000 payout package.

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Rutgers Reaches $475K Agreement with Fired Basketball Coach