Creighton men’s basketball coach Greg McDermott has been suspended from all team activities over racially insensitive comments he made to his players last week, the school announced Thursday night.
The decision came two days after the school said any disciplinary action would remain confidential.
“After our Creighton men’s basketball team returned to Omaha earlier in the day, Father Hendrickson and I entered into dialogue and discussion with other senior leaders about appropriate sanctions for the comments made by chief men’s basketball coach Greg McDermott that were inconsistent with the Creighton’s commitment to racial equality, diversity and respect, “said athletic director Bruce Rasmussen in a statement. Coach McDermott and the team have accepted his immediate suspension from all team activities, including the home season finale against Butler on Saturday. Further sanctions remain under consideration, not all of which will be made public.
“Coach McDermott and our Athletic program should use this incident as an opportunity for growth and learning as clearly more work needs to be done.”
McDermott apologized Tuesday for referring to a “plantation” to his players after losing to Xavier last week.
“In particular, I said,“ Guys, we gotta stick together. We need both feet. I need everyone to stay on the plantation. I can’t let anyone leave the plantation, “” McDermott said.
McDermott said on Creighton’s pregame radio show Wednesday – before coaching the Bluejays against Villanova – that he offered to resign over his comments. He said the players have not asked him to resign.
“Our guys wanted me to coach, and that’s my job,” said McDermott.
After Creighton announced the suspension on Thursday, McDermott took to social media and said he believed the school’s decision was the right one.
“I made a mistake and I own it” he tweeted“Errors have consequences, and I accept and agree to the suspension.”
McDermott has been Creighton’s head coach since 2010. Before taking over the Bluejays, he spent ten years as a head coach in the states of Iowa, Northern Iowa and North Dakota.
Creighton, No. 14 in this week’s AP poll, dropped to 17-7 overall and 13-6 in the Big East after consecutive losses to Xavier and Villanova. Assistant Al Huss will serve as interim head coach in McDermott’s absence.