Chaminade assistant basketball coach resigns following racial slur

Chaminade assistant basketball coach Mike Mathey resigned after he allegedly texted a racial slur to one of the players.
Chaminade University today accepted the resignation of assistant men’s basketball coach Mike Mathey after he allegedly sent a text message that contained a racial slur.
Mathey tendered his resignation last night, the school said in a news release. He had been placed on administrative leave after the text message, sent last weekend, was reported to school officials.
Hawaii News Now was the first to report Mathey being placed on leave. The TV station reported that Mathey intended to send the text to a friend, but mistakenly sent it to the player. The school said the slur thought to be in the text was the N-word. The player was not identified.
"Mike decided it was in his best interest and the interest of the team that he should resign immediately, and we have accepted his resignation," Eric Bovaird, Chaminade head basketball coach, said today. "Inappropriate text messaging and the use of racial biased language is not something that will be tolerated neither by me nor by Chaminade University."
This was Mathey’s first season as assistant men’s basketball coach at Chaminade. Originally from Prospect, Ohio, he has played college and overseas basketball.
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The Division II Silverswords hosts the Maui Invitational, which regularly draws some of the top teams in the country every year. Last month, Duke defeated Kansas in the title game.
The university in Kaimuki has 2,700 students.
"I am very proud of the fact that we have a very diverse team from various countries and different backgrounds," said Bovaird. "We stand united together and will move forward as a team."
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.