Mike Rice Introductory Press Conference: This Coaching Hire Won't Work

Rutgers basketball serves as a graveyard for coaches on the rise.

Rutgers hired Kevin Bannon, Gary Waters and Fred Hill to change their fortunes. In the end, those men could not get the job done.

Waters bounced back nicely by leading Cleveland State to a NCAA Tournament victory against Wake Forest last year. Bannon and Hill will not be coaching a college basketball team again.

One would think Rutgers learned from their mistakes, but that's not the case. They hired another up-and-coming coach several days ago.

They officially announced the hiring of Mike Rice yesterday in a press conference. Rice previously coached at Robert Morris University.

It's bad enough they hired an unproven coach, but they hired a guy from a NEC school. Hiring a coach from the Northeast Conference is not the way to go.

The Northeast Conference teams never fare well against great teams. There is a reason why they have never won a tournament game.

Robert Morris almost pulled it off in March. They should have beaten Villanova.

That's the only reason Rice was even considered for the job. No one knew who the new Rutgers coach was prior to what Robert Morris did in this tournament.

Rutgers athletic director Tim Pernetti hopes Rice can make miracles at Rutgers. That's the problem right there. Pernetti is hoping rather than expecting.

Rutgers was better off hiring a coach that has experience of winning. A coach that knows how to recruit and do well in the Big East.

Al Skinner, Tim Welsh or Fran Fraschilla would have been the right choice. As crazy as Bobby Gonzalez was, he would have been a better fit than the new Rutgers head coach.

Obviously, Pernetti had a late start of hiring coaches after it took an off-the-court incident to fire Hill. Still, those guys were available. Maybe they would not have been inspiring, but at least, they have the cache of recruiting and winning.

Fraschilla would have been the choice here. He knows how to win and recruit in this market by doing it in two colleges (Manhattan and at St. John's). He struggled at New Mexico, but that bad experience shouldn't taint the good things he has done as a coach.

If Fraschilla rejected the job, Welsh would have been a good backup. He was fired by Hofstra for his DWI arrest, but how many coaches have not been hired again after being in the police blotter? Too few to count.

Welsh may not be a great gameday coach, but he knows the area well enough to recruit. He actually did okay at Providence. Right now, okay would be considered greatness at Rutgers after couple of decades of awful basketball.

Who knows what Rice is going to do? It's hard to say he will be successful. Why should we feel that way after experiencing the same old story in the last couple of decades?

Here are several reasons to be optimistic:

He served as Jamie Dixon's assistant at Pittsburgh. He knows what it takes to win in the Big East.

He knows how to recruit in New Jersey and Philadelphia.

Bobby Hurley Sr. endorsed the hire. Anytime Hurley gives the seal of apporval, that's a good thing.

With that said, the previous coaches came with good recommendations. It meant nothing in the end.

Rutgers coaching history does not bode well for the former Robert Morris coach.

One wonders what he was thinking in making this decision to coach at Rutgers. He would have been better off coaching another mid-major team before he took a step up like this one.

Coaching in the Big East is not for rookie coaches. Not in a league where there are many great coaches. It's easy to be overmatched whether it's going through a player's home or coaching in the court.

Providence coach Keno Davis is learning it the hard way. After doing well at Drake, he is not having that same success at Providence.

It's going to take years for Rice to get this program running.  He has to sell the kids and their coaches that Rutgers is the place to be.

All these previous Rutgers coaches tried with no success. Mike Rosario's departure does not help matters. Don't forget Bob Huggins has complete control of getting kids in this area along with Jay Wright.

Who knows if Rice can coach at this level?

There's too much doubt about this choice.

Here's a prediction.

Rutgers will have another press conference in a couple of years at this time. They will announce another unproven head coach, and that guy will say all the right things.