Hercy Miller and Jalen Suggs congratulate each other in Minnehaha's victory over Sierra Canyon (Cal.) on Jan. 4
There's been a growing chorus of voices recently voicing displeasure at the Minnesota State High School League's Bylaw 410, which restricts teams from participating in competitions outside the five-state area and the adjacent Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario.
The reason for most of the complaints stems from the high national profile of the Minnehaha Academy boys' basketball team. The Redhawks have a national following thanks to a pair of top 10 college recruits in Jalen Suggs (Class of 2020) and Chet Holmgren (2021) who head up a talented lineup.
The addition of Hercy Miller, the son of rapper/producer/rap impresario Percy Miller (Master P) and the Redhawks' convincing victory over Sierra Canyon (Cal.), a team that plays a national schedule, features numerous Division I basketball recruits and has the sons of LeBron James and Dwayne Wade on its roster, fueled the calls to allow the Redhawks the opportunity to compete in the Geico High School National Championships in New York April 2-4.
But MSHSL rules state that teams seeking to play outside of the allowed area must seek a sanction from the league at least 30 days in advance is there is more than 600 miles of round-trip travel. Teams are limited to playing in tournaments of four teams or less.
Because of growing outside pressure, the Minnehaha Academy Athletic Department issued this statement Thursday via its Twitter account, @RedhawksAD:
"Announcement: Minnehaha Academy is a member school of the @MSHSL, as such we are fully aware that we can't play beyond the State Tournament. With that said, we appreciate the consideration from Geico Nationals - but our goal is to finish in a 4th straight State Championship game!"
The Redhawks (17-2) have won 14 games in a row, are No. 1 in Minnesota in Class 3A and are No. 8 in the MaxPreps National High School rankings. They play at St. Louis Park on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. and at home against Hibbing at 3 p.m. Saturday.
