Creighton head coach Greg McDermott has acknowledged his use of and apologized for a recent insensitive analogy.

Tuesday evening, McDermott took to Twitter to discuss what happened. In a note, he admitted to urging his players to “stay on the plantation” after a hard-fought loss.

The comment came after a Feb. 27 loss to Xavier:

“Guys, we got to stick together. We need both feet in. I need everybody to stay on the plantation. I can’t have anybody leave the plantation,” wrote McDermott about his post-game message.

He went on to say that he immediately identified his egregious mistake and apologized to the student-athletes, his staff, and Creighton leadership. McDermott also indicated he has been having “difficult conversations” with student-athletes, staff, parents, and university leadership since that time.

Here is McDermott’s full statement:

McDermott has led the Blue Jays since the start of the 2010-11 season. He has guided Creighton to five NCAA Tournament appearances but never beyond the Round of 32.

At 17-6, Creighton should be safely in the Tournament this season, and hopefully, McDermott learns from this moving forward.