Texas Tech men’s head basketball coach Mark Adams reportedly tried to reference the Bible when speaking with a player, and it went horribly wrong.
According to the school, 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.”
And although he immediately addressed his language with the team and supposedly apologized, the damage was done and he was initially issued a written reprimand by the school’s Director of Athletics, Kirby Hocutt.
But on Sunday, Hocutt decided to suspend Adams for making an “inappropriate, unacceptable, and racially insensitive comment.”
What’s most interesting is that, according to Stadium, Adams said he did not apologize and justified his comments by saying he was quoting the Bible.
“I was quoting the scripture,” Adams told Stadium. “It was a private conversation about coaching and when you have a job, and being coachable.”
“I said that in the Bible that Jesus talks about how we all have bosses, and we all are servants,” Adams added. “I was quoting the Bible about that.”
The 66-year-old coach said he explained his comments but reiterated that he did not apologize.
“One of my coaches said it bothered the player,” Adams said. “I explained to them. I didn’t apologize.”
Adams, who graduated from Texas Tech in 1979, has been a coach with the Red Raiders since 2016. He was first an assistant coach and then was promoted to head coach two years ago after Chris Beard left for the Texas Longhorns job.
He went 27-10 in his first season in Lubbock but fell to 16-15 this season.
The team will play West Virginia on Wednesday in the first round of the Big 12 tournament.
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