Georgetown's Cooley apologizes for derogatory comment about Illinois

WASHINGTON (AP) — Georgetown coach Ed Cooley apologized on social media for a derogatory comment he made about Illinois after his team beat Saint Francis at home earlier Saturday.

Cooley used colorful language to disparage Illinois when talking about junior guard Jayden Epps, who played his freshman season there.

“His development defensively, it’s almost like it’s a new player,” Cooley said after the Hoyas' 82-65 victory, before referencing Epps' time at Illinois. “I’m pretty sure that’ll make national news when I say that, but I never said the school it was.”

On X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, Cooley posted: “My comment today was said in jest with one of my players, but I admit it was a poor choice of words. I have the utmost respect for the University of Illinois, its men’s basketball program, coaches and players.”

Illini coach Brad Underwood, when asked about Cooley’s remarks, said he was more focused on upcoming opponents.

“That’s not even worth a waste of my time on,” Underwood said. “I don’t know what he was referencing that about, and Jayden had a productive freshman year here. But I’m not going to get into all that. I’ll let our fans and everybody else have some fun, which I'm sure they probably are.”

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