Creighton men's basketball players: Greg McDermott's 'plantation' remarks hurt us

Creighton men's basketball coach Greg McDermott was suspended from all team activities on Thursday after making racially insensitive comments to his players last week. On Saturday, players explained why they were hurt by McDermott's remarks.

"What Coach Mac said hurt me and my teammates," guard Denzel Mahoney said, according to the Associated Press (h/t ESPN). 

Forward Damien Jefferson said, "If I was your son, would it matter then? Let's not be OK with racism. Let's start the conversation."

Guard Shereef Mitchell then said:

"For slaves, life on a plantation was filled with mental, emotional, physical, psychological and sexual abuse. You were owned as property and not human. Slaves had no rights and no voice. They were branded like cattle, forced from their homeland and stripped of their culture, language and basic human rights. They worked 18 hours a day six days a week. Any sign of wrongdoing such as lack of productivity, not following instructions or resistance would result in beatings or death and that is why."

McDermott apologized earlier this week for referencing a "plantation" to his players after a 77-69 loss to Xavier on Feb. 27. The 56-year-old offered to resign over his comments before a 72-60 loss to Villanova on Wednesday. However, the players did not ask for him to leave.

McDermott has been head coach of the Bluejays since 2010. He has also coached Iowa State, Northern Iowa and North Dakota State.