The head basketball coach for Texas Tech was suspended on Sunday for making “an inappropriate, disrespectful, and racially offensive comment” to a player.
Athletic director Kirby Hocutt said that he learned of the incident on Friday and gave a written reprimand to coach Mark Adams before deciding to suspend him and investigate the incident further.
According to a school statement, the incident happened during a meeting between Adams and an unnamed player. “Adams was encouraging the student-athlete to be more receptive to coaching and referenced Bible verses about workers, teachers, parents, and slaves serving their masters,” the statement said. “Adams immediately addressed this with the team and apologized.”
Adams claims he was “quoting scripture” when he told one of his players that “there is always a master and a servant,” according to comments he made to Stadium.com.
Adams, 66, is in his second season as head coach of the Red Raiders. He took over for Chris Beard, who left to coach at The University of Texas, his alma mater. Beard was fired during this season by the Longhorns after being charged with felony domestic violence. Prosecutors later dropped those charges.
This incident at Texas Tech is one of the latest examples of university sports coaches being accused of making racially insensitive remarks to players and facing backlash, according to the Associated Press.
Pat Chambers, Penn State’s former head coach, resigned three years ago after a former player claimed Chambers told him he wanted to “loosen the noose around your neck” when talking about stress reduction. He was hired to coach Florida Gulf Coast this season.
Creighton University coach Greg McDermott apologized during the 2020-21 season for telling his team after a game loss to “stay on the plantation” to remind them to stick together. McDermott received a one-game suspension.