Kansas' Zeke Mayo receives hateful messages after loss to Texas Tech

New York Times

02-03-2025

Kansas guard Zeke Mayo received a series of hateful messages following Saturday's 78-73 loss to No. 10 Texas Tech, he shared on social media, prompting KU athletic director Travis Goff to come to his defense and leading coach Bill Self to issue a statement about the criticism surrounding the team.
After the loss, which dropped the Jayhawks to 19-10 overall, Mayo shared screenshots of direct messages he received, which included threats, racist comments and a death wish. Mayo also included a statement about his recent play before deleting his X account. He shot 1 of 7 from the field and finished with five points (and five turnovers) against the Red Raiders on Saturday.
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'I 100% deserve all the criticism in the world,' Mayo wrote on X. 'My performance was beyond pitiful today, and has been for a while now. I work my ass 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.'
Later Saturday night, Self posted his own message on KU's social media channels that said, in part, 'We all could do a lot of things better. But 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.'
A statement from Coach Self following today's game vs. Texas Tech: pic.twitter.com/hdGu0bI6Gz
— Kansas Men's Basketball (@KUHoops) March 2, 2025
He also wrote, 'we need to be focused on basketball and not things being said outside of basketball that have absolutely zero merit.' Self's post did not reference Mayo directly.
Goff, the athletic director, responded to Mayo's post and said the people sending him messages 'aren't Jayhawks.'
'Driven by gambling and hate. They've never competed a day in their life,' Goff wrote. 'To Zeke and all our guys — the Jayhawk family loves you and will always ride with you through thick and thin.'
An NCAA study released in October about digital hate directed at athletes called its findings 'jarring.' Following the study's release, NCAA president Charlie Baker called on fans to 'do better' and on social media companies to do more in combatting hate online.
Kansas has struggled this season, falling out of the Top 25 for the first time since 2021 following a 34-point loss to BYU on Feb. 18. Kansas has lost six of its past 11 games.
The Jayhawks, who are 10-8 in the Big 12, were the preseason No. 1 team in November in both the Associated Press and Coaches Polls. KU travels Monday to No. 4 Houston.