Texas Tech basketball coach suspended for invoking “slaves serving masters”

Texas Tech men’s basketball coach Mark Adams has been suspended after referencing “slaves serving their masters” during a coaching session, the university said. 

“Texas Tech University has suspended men’s basketball head coach Mark Adams in relation to the use of an inappropriate, unacceptable, and racially insensitive comment last week,” the university said in a statement. 

On Friday, Director of Athletics Kirby Hocutt was informed of a coaching session Adams held with a member of the men’s basketball team. During the session, Adams, who is White, encouraged the player, whose race was not revealed, to be more receptive to coaching by referencing Bible verses that centered around “workers, teachers, parents, and slaves serving their masters,” according to Texas Tech. 

Adams offered an apology after the incident; Hocutt discussed it with Adams and issued him a written reprimand, the university said. But shortly after Hocutt decided to suspend Adams, “effective immediately,” in order to conduct an investigation into how Adam interacts with players and staff, the university said.