Nikita Biryukov

Correspondent

NEW BRUNSWICK – Rutgers University has agreed to pay $300,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by former men’s basketball player Derrick Randall, who claimed he was "chronically and heinously targeted and abused, both physically and psychologically," by former coach Mike Rice.

Filed in federal court on Dec. 6, 2013, the lawsuit was settled April 7, according to court documents. The settlement came after a mediator, retired federal Judge John J. Hughes, was appointed Feb. 24.



Rutgers officials and Randall’s attorney declined comment. The settlement, first reported by the online legal blog NJ Civil Settlements, includes a confidentiality clause.

READ: Randall charged with DWI on Rutgers' campus

READ: Mike Rice embracing his second chance



In the lawsuit, Randall, who had been diagnosed with learning disabilities, alleged that Rutgers failed to provide accommodations for his disabilities and allowed him "to be subjected to the outrageous and continuous abuse perpetrated by Coach Rice."



According to the lawsuit, because of his disabilities first diagnosed at an early age, Randall experienced a lack of confidence and self-esteem. Rice told Randall's father that Rutgers would provide the highly recruited basketball player with the resources he needed, including a psychologist, the lawsuit says.



Each of the players on the team was assigned a "life coach" to help them deal with academic and personal issues. Randall's life coach was "incredibly" the team's videographer.



Randall was subjected to "outrageous, intimidating and abusive conduct," by Rice, including basketballs was thrown at his head and legs, homophobic slurs and "other shockingly derogatory and discriminatory name calling," according to the lawsuit



Those actions, the lawsuit alleged, left Randall in a "constant and debilitating state of anxiety" and made him feel "completely helpless."



Randall "shut down" and "lost all confidence," according to the lawsuit, as Rice "frequently engaged in mind games" with him, such as asking him if he was ready to go into a game and then leaving him on the bench without any explanation.



Randall was "compelled to leave the university" and "close the book on his dream of playing on the university's basketball team."



The lawsuit asked for compensation for the "continuous, physical, verbal and emotional injuries," as well as lost economic opportunities and earning potential.

Additionally, Rutgers will immediately pay Randall's expert witness fees of $6,800.00 directly to Dr. Alexander Sasha Bardey.

Bleeding cash

Rutgers already has spent millions cleaning up the mess Rice left behind and the athletics tab keeps getting higher and higher.

In April 2013, ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” aired practice footage that showed Rice, throwing basketballs at and shoving his players as well as berating them with offensive language. Rice was fired one day after ESPN aired the footage. Then-Athletics Director Tim Pernetti resigned under intense pressure two days later.

Former Rice assistant Eric Murdock, who was the whistleblower, has an unsettled suit against Rutgers for wrongful termination. Murdock originally tried to settle for $950,000 before leaking the explosive practice tapes to ESPN.

Randall’s suit named Rice, Pernetti, Rutgers President Robert Barchi, athletics Chief Financial Officer Janine Purcaro, then-assistant coach Jimmy Martelli and then-Board of Governors Committee on Intercollegiate Athletics Chair Mark Hershhorn and the university.

Randall’s disabilities add a wrinkle to his lawsuit not seen in others brought against the school around the same time by former players Robert Lumpkins and Jerome Seagears.

Because the case was settled outside the courts, neither Rutgers nor Rice was found liable for the violations or any other wrongdoing

The settlement pushed the bill for the Rice scandal over the $2.5 million mark, the bulk of which stems from severance pay.

Randall averaged 2.3 points and 1.9 rebounds per game over two seasons as a frontcourt reserve for the Scarlet Knights. After Rice’s firing, he transferred to Pittsburgh, where he averaged less than two points per game off the bench for his final two seasons.

Rice was given a severance package of at least $475,000 and mostly has stayed out of the spotlight, though he returned to the sidelines with national high school powerhouse St. Patrick of Elizabeth this past season.

Pernetti’s resignation netted him a settlement of at least $1.2 million.

Former Rutgers general counsel John Wolf, who was pressed to resign for initially advising the university against Pernetti’s wishes to fire rather than suspend Rice after footage of the abuse initially surfaced in late 2012, received a payout of $420,000.

Rutgers also paid at least $220,000 to outside firms brought in to handle the fallout.

More payouts

The firing of Rutgers head football coach Kyle Flood and Athletic Director Julie Hermann in November 2015 added another $2.5 million dollars to Rutgers’ tab.

Flood was fired after a season wrapped in controversy, during which seven Rutgers football players were arrested on various charges.

During the season, the former coach was suspended for three games for violating university policy by contacting a professor regarding an academically ineligible student-athlete’s grade. Flood’s severance package amounted to $1.4 million.

Hermann, who was hired to replace Pernetti but whose termination was influenced by controversies that took place under her tenure, will receive the full amount promised in her contract. At the time of her firing, that number sat at $1.16 million through 2018.

But the Rutgers coaching staff had yet to see the last of its changes.

The last major staff change came in March, when former men's basketball coach Eddie Jordan, a favorite son with a clean reputation who was hired to aid the post-Rice healing, was fired after a grueling season that saw the Scarlet Knights finish with a record of 7-25. Jordan is owed a severance of roughly $2 million.

Contributing: Staff Writers Mike Deak, Ryan Dunleavy and Jerry Carino