Master P’s Son Hercy Miller Leaving Tennessee State Basketball Due To Lack Of Medical Resources

Master P’s Son Hercy Miller Leaving Tennessee State Basketball Due To Lack Of Medical Resources

Master P’s mission is to create a fair path between Historically Black Colleges, and Universities.

Although the entrepreneur’s mission hasn’t changed he is also making it his mission to make sure his son has a fighting chance in sports. Master P’s son, Hercy Miller, is transferring from the Tennessee State basketball program because of what the hip-hop mogul believes is a lack of medical resources within the athletics department.

Master P, real name Percy Miller, said his son did not receive proper medical care after suffering a hip injury in the Tigers’ first game of the season on November 9th. The alleged improper diagnosis almost led to the end of Hercy’s playing career.

Master P told reporters that an injury like his son’s could have been prevented had the school had an adequate number of medical staff. He said:

We’ve got a great program at Tennessee State, we’ve got great people, we loved the culture, we just don’t have enough trainers. We don’t have enough medical people to take care of what needs to be taken care of. We don’t have the technology that the Dukes and all these major universities have. An injury like this could have been prevented.

While the music and business mogul says that he does not blame the medical staff at TSU, he does fault the disparity in medical resources between major universities and HBCUs on an overall lack of funding.

TSU’s department officials did respond to Master P’s statement saying that the department’s problems actually are the opposite of being underfunded. Earlier this year, a report by the Office of Legislative Budget Analysis estimated TSU had been underfunded by as much as $544 million in land-grant funding over the years. TSU’s director of sports medicine Trevor Searcy says they are not understaffed or underfunded compared to schools its size. He explains,

The issue is not that we’re underfunded at all. It’s actually the opposite. The issue is that since (athletics director Mikki Allen) has been here we’ve been growing and when you grow your facilities have to grow as well and that’s what we’re in the process of doing now.

Master P expressed his distaste for the school’s medical staff from the beginning explaining he was never “comfortable” with it.

How can we help HBCUs if we’re going to sugar coat the truth? Then we are failing the next generation, he said. “What do we need to fundraise for if staff members are saying we have everything we need?

Master P remained concerned about Hercy’s injury after he was cleared to play just four day after the incident. TSU sent Hercy to a doctor who said he needed to take six months off to allow the injury to heal. Master P then took his son to a specialist.

He says,

The specialist said if we would have waited any longer he probably wouldn’t have been able to play basketball anymore because next his ACL was going to go out and all other kinds of injuries. That’s when I said I have to bring awareness to what’s going on at all these HBCUs — underfunding with no resources. I’m going to be with all the HBCU programs to bring awareness to this but I’m not going to sacrifice my son’s career and his future.

Doctor’s say that if the injury went untreated it likely could have ended Hercy’s career. Master P said Hercy has returned home and will begin rehabilitating the injury and is open to returning to the Tigers if changes are made.

Does Master P have a valid argument in this matter? Let us know in the comments.

[VIA]