St. John’s basketball player Rysheed Jordan sent a message to two people on Twitter Tuesday afternoon calling them a “Fag.”
The originating tweet came from someone in Philly and told Rysheed to "give daddy a kiss."
Jordan responded with this:
Outsports contacted St. John's sports information director Stephen Dombroski, who issued this statement to Outsports:
"Inappropriate and offensive messages in any form are unacceptable in accordance with the University's student code of conduct. Matters like this are taken seriously and addressed internally per University policy for all student conduct issues. We place a priority on educating our students to being sensitive in a diverse world."
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Jordan deleted the tweet and released this statement to Outsports:
"I apologize for the language I used on Twitter in a conversation with my friends. It was insensitive and something I regret because I did not mean to hurt anyone."
St. Johns did not share what action, if any, they have taken with Jordan. Head coach Steve Lavin released this statement to Outsports:
"All of the young men representing our University and basketball program are held to high standards. This is an example of very poor judgment by Rysheed. We will address it within our basketball family and use this unfortunate instance as a vehicle to further educate and promote personal development. Growing up in a family that emphasized both education and tolerance shaped a perspective that I continue to use in my teaching of young people. We can all learn from this experience."
Openly gay Saunders High School basketball coach Anthony Nicodemo has made it a priority to stress to his players that no anti-gay or other insensitive public remarks will be tolerated.
"I stress to my student-athletes they are constantly representing the program, school and community. Any miscue represents the whole. They know certain language is off limits and are required to adhere to the standard."
St. John's men's basketball coach Steve Lavin might be smart to follow Nicodemo's lead.
Jordan is the second-leading scorer for the Red Storm, averaging 13.4 points per game.