Texas Tech head coach Mark Adams stepped down from his role on Wednesday night, Texas Tech announced.

This decision came after Adams was suspended Sunday for making a racially insensitive comment to a player. Texas Tech led an inquiry to make a final determination on the situation.

The suspension took place three days before the Big 12 Tournament began for Texas Tech. With Adams’ status in question, Texas Tech named Corey Williams the interim head coach while Adams was away from the team. Texas Tech fell to West Virginia in the Big 12 Tournament.

Before Adams stepped down as the head coach, he made a statement on his decision to leave the program:

“My lifelong goal was to help and be a positive influence on my players, and to be a part of the Texas Tech men’s basketball team,” Adams said. “However, both the University and I believe this incident has become a distraction for the Texas Tech men’s basketball team and the University, which I care about so deeply.”

Adams, who is 66, was in his 2nd season as Texas Tech’s head coach. Following the 2020-2021 season, Adams replaced former Texas Tech head coach Chris Beard. Adams previously served as an assistant coach on Beard’s staff at Texas Tech from 2016 to 2021.

Texas Tech will search for a new head coach.