Texas Tech’s Head men’s basketball coach Mark Adams resigned due to controversy around his use of a bible verse in a conversation with a player. The Bible verse used was about the roles of a slave and master. The decision was made in conjunction with Adams and the University.
This past weekend, Adams was suspended for the comment he made, but during that suspension, the allegation worsened with a report leaking that he may have spit on the player as well. Adams denies that part of the allegation. Adams announced his stepping down from the position, according to Fox News, by saying the following:
“My lifelong goal was to help and be a positive influence on my players, and to be a part of the Texas Tech men’s basketball team. However, both the University and I believe this incident has become a distraction for the Texas Tech men’s basketball team and the University, which I care about so deeply.”
The school released a statement when it initially sent Adams away for his suspension. Fox News shared the statement:
“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.
“On Friday, Director of Athletics Kirby Hocutt was made aware of an incident regarding a coaching session between Adams and a member of the men’s basketball team. 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. Adams immediately addressed this with the team and apologized.
“Upon learning of the incident, Hocutt addressed this matter with Adams and issued him a written reprimand. Hocutt subsequently made the decision to suspend Adams effective immediately in order to conduct a more thorough inquiry of Adams’ interactions with his players and staff.”
While Adams denied nothing about using the Bible verse, he denies any incident in which a player says that the coach spit on them. He says that while yelling, saliva may have “slobbered” on them, but asserts that at no point did he intentionally spit on a player. He also denied saying, “I can spit on you whenever I want to,” as was alleged.
Corey Williams has been named as interim head coach, although the team’s season is over and he is likely to coach in games for the program if hired permanently. The team finished the season at 16-16 after losing in the first round of the BIG 12 tournament, dashing the team’s hope of a berth into March Madness. Texas Tech will have a long offseason ahead of themselves as they try to replace Adams as head basketball coach.
Adams was on a contract that was set to pay him 15.5 million, according to ESPN, and would not end until the 26-27 season. He has spent 30 years coaching NCAA basketball and graduated from Texas Tech.
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This @KVUE video is barely a year old.
Chris Beard: No longer at Texas.
Mark Adams: No longer at Texas Tech. pic.twitter.com/tC7GlhPNxl— Tyler Feldman (@TylerFeldmanTV) March 9, 2023
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