Master P’s son Hercy Miller will transfer from the Tennesse State University (TSU) basketball program due to its lack of medical resources.
The No Limit Entertainment CEO said his son did not receive proper medical attention after suffering a hip injury during the first game of the season last month. A wrong diagnosis almost led to the end of Miller’s basketball career.
“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,” Master P said. “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.”
The media mogul told The Tennessean that he does not blame TSU. Instead, he accuses the disparity in medical resources between HBCUs and major universities on a general lack of funding. Earlier this year, the Office of Legislative Budget Analysis reported that TSU “had been underfunded by as much as $544 million in land-grant funding over the years,” according to the outlet.
However, several athletics department officials said that TSU’s sports medicine department isn’t underfunded or understaffed. “The issue is not that we’re underfunded at all,” Trevor Searcy, TSU director of sports medicine, said. “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.”
Regardless, Master P was not pleased with the medical staff while his son was enrolled and believes officials are trying to cover up the truth. “How can we help HBCUs if we’re going to sugarcoat 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?”
Miller recently signed a $2 million sponsorship deal with Web Apps America after signing with TSU. His father said the contract will still be in place as long as he remains a college athlete.