Uhh, Crazy Story Here: Myles Powell, Best Player Seton Hall Has Had In 30 Years, Is Suing The School For Lying To Him About An Injury
[North Jersey] - In the lawsuit, filed Wednesday in state Superior Court, 24-year-old Myles Powell claims the university, his coach, Kevin Willard, and the team's director of sports medicine, Tony Testa, acted negligently by allowing him to play on a torn meniscus in his right knee, which he was told was a minor injury that would not be aggravated if he continued to play for the team during its 2019-20 season and the 2020 NCAA Tournament.
The lawsuit refers to Testa as an M.D. and the team's physician, but according to the university's website he does not have a medical degree and is not the team's physician.
So this broke last night in the middle of the NBA Finals and I actually almost forgot about it. That's how you newsdump, I guess. But this is an insane story. Myles Powell is the best/most accomplished player Seton Hall has had in 30 years, really since they lost to Michigan in the championship game. Dude scored 2,000 points, won Big East Player of the Year, had Gus Johnson going insane.
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Needless to say when you see 'Myles Powell is suing Seton Hall' it's a massive story. It's even bigger when you read into it. Basically, Powell is suing the school for having everyone lie to him about how serious an injury was during his final season there. It's a no-brainer. If they misdiagnosed him, he has a right to sue. If they lied to him, it's beyond fucked up but also shows how college sports operate.
In the second game of the 2019-20 season, Powell, then a senior, suffered an injury. He said he was told by Willard and the university’s director of sports medicine, Tony Testa, that he had suffered an ankle injury and could continue to play without trouble, according to the suit.
Willard told reporters the night of the injury, against Stony Brook, it was a “serious” ankle sprain and might lead to a “prolonged absence.” Powell, however, played the next game, scoring a game-high 37 points against Michigan State.
The injury turned out to be a torn meniscus that should have kept him sidelined, one of the school’s most decorated players in recent years said. The lawsuit says Powell continued to play, on the advice of Willard and Testa, but felt pain in his knee.
The lawsuit says Testa injected pain-killing medication into Powell’s knee throughout the season, but did not inform him of the torn meniscus — a common basketball injury that most players make a full recovery from within two months, according to a 2012 study by the American Journal of Sports Medicine.
If this is all true, what the fuck is Seton Hall doing here? Not only are they about to lose a ton of money in a lawsuit, but this will murder them in recruiting. Imagine if this gets out and ends up being completely true? Do you know how easy it will be for opposing coaches to talk shit about Kevin Willard and warn players that they are basically going to play for Coach Bud Kilmer. Powell is going for the jugular too, claiming he'd be a lottery pick if Seton Hall didn't lie to him. Now, he wasn't going to be a lottery pick but does he get drafted? That's a debate. He signed a $50,000 guaranteed contract with the Knicks G League team and you can for sure debate if he lost money because of the injury.
It'll be interesting to see how Seton Hall and Willard responds here. Again, you're talking about the face of the program and the best player they've had since like John Morton and Andrew Gaze. The dude is from your backyard too and you need to do everything possible to fix this relationship.