The former Chaminade assistant basketball coach who resigned after sending a text message to a player containing a racial slur has apologized.
Mike Mathey said in a statement released by the university Saturday that he's sorry ''from the bottom of my heart.'' He says the text message was not meant to be degrading.
Last week, the tiny Catholic university in Honolulu that hosts the high-profile Maui Invitational every year accepted his resignation after placing him on administrative leave when the text message was reported to school officials.
The school told The Associated Press that the slur was the N-word.
Mathey's statement says he is not racist and has friends of different races. He says he made a ''big mistake.''
The university says he has returned to the mainland.
