Creighton bans McDermott
‘Plantation’ remark costs coach
Creighton University suspended basketball coach Greg McDermott indefinitely Thursday night for using racially insensitive language while addressing the team after a game last weekend.
McDermott publicly apologized Tuesday and again Wednesday for urging his players to “stay on the plantation” after the 14thranked Bluejays’ 77-69 loss at Xavier.
McDermott coached in the Bluejays’ 72-60 loss at No. 10 Villanova on Wednesday night. Assistant coach Alan Huss will serve as interim head coach for the home game against Butler on Saturday.
“I made a mistake and I own it,” McDermott said in a Twitter post after the suspension was announced. “Mistakes come with consequences, and I accept and agree with the suspension.”
Athletic director Bruce Rasmussen said he and university president the Rev. Daniel Hendrickson met with senior administrators Thursday to determine disciplinary action against McDermott.
“Coach McDermott and the team have accepted that, effective immediately, he is suspended for all team activities, including
Saturday’s home
Butler.”
The university statement announcing the suspension did not specify how long McDermott would be suspended. Creighton athletic spokesman Rob Anderson told The Associated Press no end date has been set. season finale against
NOVA’S GILLESPIE OUT FOR YEAR
Villanova guard Collin Gillespie has a torn medial collateral ligament in his left knee and is expected to miss the rest of the season.
Gillespie had an MRI that confirmed the tear after injuring the knee during the first half of Wednesday night’s game against Creighton.
Gillespie was recently named one of five finalists for the Bob Cousy Award, which honors the nation’s top point guard. In 20 games this season, he has averaged 14 points, 4.6 assists and 3.3 rebounds. His 2.9 assist-to-turnover ratio ranks second in the Big East Conference.
The 10th-ranked Wildcats (16-4, 11-3), who clinched their seventh Big East regular season title in the last eight seasons with the
win over the No. 14 Bluejays, visit Providence Saturday.
ARROWHEAD GETS NEW NAME
The home of the Kansas City Chiefs will have a new name when the upcoming season begins.
The team announced Thursday that it had reached a naming rights deal with Government Employees Health Association, based in Lee’s Summit, Missouri.
The stadium’s full name will be GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.
Officials with GEHA and the Chiefs said in a news release they plan to ensure that Arrowhead Stadium will remain the identity of the stadium. Arrowhead has been the Chiefs’ home since 1972 and is one of the NFL’s most recognizable venues, and this is the first time the team has sold the stadium’s naming rights.
GEHA is the Chiefs’ exclusive partner for health, dental and vision plans.
PENN RELAYS CANCELED
The 2021 Penn Relays have been canceled for the second straight time due to the coronavirus pandemic and local restrictions on large gatherings.
The University of Pennsylvania Division of Recreation and Intercollegiate Athletics
announced the cancellation Thursday. The three-day event at Philadelphia’s Franklin Field was scheduled to begin April 22.
FORMER YANK MEDIA MAN DIES
Larry Wahl, a vice president of the Orange Bowl and a former New York Yankees media relations head under George Steinbrenner, has died. He was 67.
Wahl died Wednesday at his home in Pompano Beach, Florida, son Alexander Wahl said Thursday. He had been diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2018.
“Larry was truly one of the good guys,” longtime Orange Bowl CEO Eric Poms said. “There is a void for all of us.”
A 1975 graduate of Penn with a master’s degree in sports administration from Ohio University, Wahl interned for the NFL’s New York Jets in 1976-77.
He worked for the Yankees from 1977-81 and was media relations director from 197980, following Bob Fishel (1973-74), Marty Appel (1974-76) and Mickey Morabito (1977-78) in a quick succession.
Wahl was the team’s chief spokesman at the time of captain Thurman Munson’s death during a 1979 crash while Munson piloted a private plane.
Wahl left the Yankees in 1981 for ABC Sports and was followed by Irv Kaze.