Creighton's Greg McDermott Says He Offered to Resign After 'Plantation' Comment

Creighton men's basketball coach Greg McDermott offered to resign if players asked him to after he made racially insensitive remarks in a recent locker room speech. 

"This is their team," McDermott said in an interview on 1620 The Zone's Unsportsmanlike Conduct. "... If they would have chosen to have me walk away, I would have walked away. But that is not what they wanted."

The head coach came under fire for his post-game speech that used slavery imagery after a Feb. 27 loss to Xavier.

"Guys, we got to stick together," McDermott told his players, per the Omaha World-Herald's Jon Nyatawa. "We need both feet in. I need everybody to stay on the plantation. I can't have anybody leave the plantation."

McDermott has since apologized for his words:

The coach, who is white, said he has never used the analogy before.

Assistant coach Terrence Rencher, who is Black, said on Twitter he was "deeply hurt" by McDermott's speech:

There are also several Black players on the team.

McDermott is in his 11th season with Creighton after taking the job in 2010, winning two regular-season titles, two conference tournament titles and five trips to the NCAA tournament in his tenure. The Blue Jays enter their final regular-season game Saturday against Butler with a 17-7 record.