Creighton Suspends Basketball Coach After 'Plantation' Reference

OMAHA, NE — Creighton University has suspended men’s basketball coach Greg McDermott for using language that doesn’t meet the school’s standards for racial equity and respect after he told his players they “need to stay on the plantation” after a recent loss.

McDermott admitted making the comments and said on Twitter he used a “terribly inappropriate analogy” in asking his players to stick together following a loss. On Thursday, after the school announced the suspension, McDermott said on Twitter that mistakes come with consequences and that he accepts the suspension.

The university has not announced how long McDermott will remain away from the team, but he could return before the NCAA Tournament. Following a loss to Xavier last weekend, McDermott told his team, “Guys, we’ve got to stick together. We need both feet in. I need everybody to stay on the plantation. I can’t have anybody leave the plantation.”

McDermott, who has overseen the Creighton program since 2010, said he made the comments after an emotionally tough loss but immediately realized his mistake. McDermott, 56, said on Twitter he has never used that analogy before and realized how painful it was to people.

Creighton assistant coach Terrence Rencher released a statement through Coaches 4 Action, saying while he has never witnessed any “racist energy” from McDermott, his comments were “wrong and insensitive.”

“'Plantation' had a dark and hurtful history in my community and cannot be overlooked," Rencher wrote in his statement.

The university said that McDermott will not be permitted to participate in any team activities, including Saturday’s regular-season finale against Butler. The university said that further sanctions are possible against McDermott but that any further punishment will not be made public. The Bluejays, who are ranked No. 14th nationally in the Associated Press Top 25 poll, have lost two straight games.

McDemott said in a radio interview that he offered to resign as coach but said that is not what his players wanted.

"While an apology is a start, and while we believe this was out of character for Coach McDermott, in no way does it diminish the fact that his remark was hurtful to many and has absolutely no place in the Creighton community,” the school said in a statement.

In his first public comments about the incident, McDermott said he is extremely disappointed in himself but that it goes beyond that.

“The pain that I caused our players who look to me as a mentor and as a leader, the pain that I saw in their eyes was immense,” McDermott told reporters this week. “That’s where my disappointment is — what I’ve done to some young people that I love very much. That’s a cross I’m going to have to bear for a while and I’m going to come out of this on the other end a better person because of it. But it’s going to be a process.”