Kansas player reveals racist, threatening messages received after tough game; Bill Self issues statement

The Kansas Jayhawks’ disappointing season continued on Saturday with a 78-73 loss to No. 10 Texas Tech, but Zeke Mayo took a harder hit off the court.

Mayo struggled in the contest, going 1-for-7 from the floor, including an 0-for-5 clip from three-point land.

After the game, Mayo took the X to take the blame for the loss.

“I 100% deserve all the criticism in the world. My performance was beyond pitiful today, and has been for a while now. I work my a– off everyday to be great, but I can’t be perfect all the time. I’m sorry to our fans and my teammates, I will continue to get better,” he posted – his account as his been deactivated.

However, with that message came screenshots of hateful messages, including one that called him a “trash can n—–.” Another user told him to “kill yourself,” while another wished death.

The incident was enough for head coach Bill Self to issue a lengthy statement in which he reiterated he was “proud” of his team.

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“The game today was a very good college basketball game. We played a very good team and we got beat,” Self wrote. “We had some individuals have exceptional individual games, and we had some maybe not play up to the standard they’ve set for themselves. But, everyone on our team, coaches included, myself, more than anyone, had opportunities to impact the game.”

Self added, “I’ll roll with these guys every day and be proud of it. Any criticism about the team should be directed at me. I’m the head coach.”

He finished his statement, “This is the most important time of the season, and this is the time where we need to be better, but we also need to be focused on basketball and not things being said outside of basketball that have absolutely zero merit.”