Kansas Player Shares Disturbing Messages After Tough Loss; Bill Self Defends Team

The Kansas Jayhawks’ season took another hit on Saturday with a 78-73 loss to No. 10 Texas Tech. But for Zeke Mayo, the fallout extended far beyond the court.

Mayo had a tough night, shooting just 1-for-7 from the field and missing all five of his three-point attempts. After the game, he took to social media to own up to his performance, posting: "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."

While his apology was heartfelt, it didn’t stop a torrent of hateful and vile messages from flooding his inbox. Screenshots shared by Mayo revealed some of the worst humanity has to offer, including a racial slur calling him a "trash can n-----," a grim "kill yourself" message, and even death wishes. The backlash was so overwhelming that Mayo deactivated his social media account entirely.

The disturbing incident prompted Kansas head coach Bill Self to step in with a strong statement. Self stood by his player and the team, emphasizing, "The game today was a very good college basketball game. We played a very good team and we got beat. 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 didn’t mince words about where criticism should go, adding, "Any criticism about the team should be directed at me. I'm the head coach." He wrapped up his statement by urging the team to remain focused: "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."

The Jayhawks are currently 19-10 overall and 10-8 in the Big 12, landing them in sixth place. Their chances of securing an at-large bid for the March Madness tournament remain uncertain, a precarious position for a team with such high expectations.

While the pressure of college basketball is intense, the level of vitriol directed at Mayo is a sobering reminder of the toxic environment athletes can face. It’s one thing to criticize a performance; it’s another to cross into personal, hateful attacks. Here’s hoping fans remember the human behind the jersey next time they reach for their keyboards.