Missouri State loses potential starter

[tornado]

Reggie Scurry played backup at PF behind Alize Johnson and did a very good job...

he was on course to battle for All-Newcomer then was sidelined with the cryotherapy blunder they had that damaged skin & tissue on his feet severely.

It has been rumored he will leave & transfer & some discussion centered on what could end up as litigation vs. Missouri State -

He likely would have been a starter this coming year - he averaged 9 ppg/4 rpg and was 2nd on the team in blocked shots
I wonder if he will appeal to the NCAA for immediate eligibility on the hardship basis that his transfer was prompted by their mismanagement of his cryotherapy

In 2016-17, Scurry was a juco teammate at Northern Oklahoma-Tonkawa with Luqman Lundy

[tornado]

Reggie Scurry played backup at PF behind Alize Johnson and did a very good job...

he was on course to battle for All-Newcomer then was sidelined with the cryotherapy blunder they had that damaged skin & tissue on his feet severely.

It has been rumored he will leave & transfer & some discussion centered on what could end up as litigation vs. Missouri State -

He likely would have been a starter this coming year - he averaged 9 ppg/4 rpg and was 2nd on the team in blocked shots
I wonder if he will appeal to the NCAA for immediate eligibility on the hardship basis that his transfer was prompted by their mismanagement of his cryotherapy

In 2016-17, Scurry was a juco teammate at Northern Oklahoma-Tonkawa with Luqman Lundy

Scurry transfers to Middle Tennessee - he appears to have immediate eligibility or be petitioning for it - altho he is still not healed from his frostbite injuries and may not play until 2019-2020 according to this article.

given the circumstances that happened at Missouri State, I guess I wouldn't be surprised if he & his family file a lawsuit

[tornado]

Back in January Missouri State officials stated they would pursue a full investigation into the injuries caused by the cryotherapy incident and issue a report...

however, they have been silent since then and have never issued a thing...

In the meantime, Scurry has now left Missouri State & transferred to Middle Tennessee and has spoken on the incident

https://www.news-leader.com/story/sports/college/msu/2018/04/16/went-through-worst-pain-my-life/520131002/

[tornado]

Back in January Missouri State officials stated they would pursue a full investigation into the injuries caused by the cryotherapy incident and issue a report...

however, they have been silent since then and have never issued a thing...

In the meantime, Scurry has now left Missouri State & transferred to Middle Tennessee and has spoken on the incident
https://www.news-leader.com/story/sp...ife/520131002/

Missouri State says it will not release any further information about their severe cryotherapy disaster & injuries...

This is quite unfortunate, since wide knowledge of what went wrong and how such a disaster occurred might be very valuable in making sure the same thing doesn't happen again - to them or to anyone anywhere.
They do admit they are STILL, six months later, paying multiple medical bills for those players who were injured.

But there's a good chance they are likely keeping everything secret in an effort to soften their liability and bad public image.
One more thing noted in the latest media story - is that the trainer who was in charge and who recommended the cryotherapy has now "left the university"

[Da Coach]

Yeah, Missouri State is being very secretive, even defying a Freedom of Information request. They spent a bunch of taxpayers' money, and did an investigation of the cryotherapy incident, but won't release any of the results. And now they say they will never release the information that the public is entitled to since MSU is a public institution.

Missouri State won't say what its cryotherapy investigation turned up — not now, not ever

https://www.news-leader.com/story/sports/college/msu/2018/06/21/missouri-state-university-mens-basketball-cryotherapy-injury-investigation/722519002/

They are relying on the town's single small newspaper not wanting to step on anyone's toes and offend the people at MSU and hoping they won't pursue this matter further to get the information released, so it can be covered up, and hope it all goes away.

[Art Haines is God]

Yeah, Missouri State is being very secretive, even defying a Freedom of Information request. They spent a bunch of taxpayers' money, and did an investigation of the cryotherapy incident, but won't release any of the results. And now they say they will never release the information that the public is entitled to since MSU is a public institution.

Missouri State won't say what its cryotherapy investigation turned up ??” not now, not ever

https://www.news-leader.com/story/sports/college/msu/2018/06/21/missouri-state-university-mens-basketball-cryotherapy-injury-investigation/722519002/

They are relying on the town's single small newspaper not wanting to step on anyone's toes and offend the people at MSU and hoping they won't pursue this matter further to get the information released, so it can be covered up, and hope it all goes away.

Couple things. 1. The study was privately funded. One of the players sought legal action which is why it was done 2. The incident was not university sponsored. The players were given the option to participate. With waivers and what not the university has little responsibility.

I give the school credit. They could have wiped their hands of this and blamed the former staff, etc. But they haven??™t; they??™ve put sometime into making it right.

Releasing the information would be quite damaging to a couple former employees. It would likely impact their ability to work in sports and likely lead to a waterfall of costly counter suits by them. It??™s a horrible tragedy impacting two really good kids. The athletic department is sick about this and from what I??™ve heard have done everything they can to help these boys literally get back on their feet.

One of players, Fofana, has remained with the team and speaks highly of how the school has supported him.

I get the impression the secrecy is more to protect individuals rather than the school. I think it??™s a really tough situation for all involved.

[Da Coach]

Thanks for your info. Call me skeptical, but I simply don't believe that there won't be some costs of this fiasco that are passed along to the taxpayers. And though I am not a lawyer, I am also skeptical that their explanation why they feel they don't have to released the findings of the investigation are just a smokescreen to try to hide the facts, as you say, to try to minimize their liability. IMO, there was obviously some kind of gross negligence involved for 2 players to have been injured so severely, while all the other men's and women's players involved were not.
BTW, the University's investigation itself seems more like a giant cover-up, since the Springfield News Leader has already interviewed the owner of the Kombat Cross Training company, the people who conducted the controversial cryotherapy sessions, and the owner said "he has never been contacted by the university regarding an investigation"! Really? They do some kind of a "thorough investigation", but they don't even contact the company that did the treatments? What kind of investigation was that?

The University has already admitted that they are paying for the players' medical bills. They claim that "insurance" will cover the costs, but Missouri State University's health insurance is self-funded, which means it still comes out of taxpayers' pockets.-

https://www.news-leader.com/story/news/education/2018/07/03/missouri-state-pay-bills-mens-basketball-players-cryotherapy-injuries/742547002/

Plus, now Fofana will spending an extra year at the university, which costs thousands of dollars. Someone's paying for that.
And if either of the players file a lawsuit because of the damages (and whatever "waiver" was involved would not protect anyone from negligence), and Scurry certainly seems to have a legitimate case as this incident could impair his chances at playing professionally, that could cost the University and taxpayers a bundle more. It also appears that Missouri State's liability insurance may be self-funded.

I am not a resident of Missouri, so none of this affects me personally. But I am simply in favor of openness and honesty, and that seems lacking here.

[BUfan17]

They probably found out that the whole cryotherapy thing is nothing but pseudoscience and whoever told them to do it is just a snake oil salesman. Extreme cold is nothing to mess around with, I'm sure Missouri State is embarrassed.

[tornado]

Couple things.
1. The study was privately funded. ...

2. The incident was not university sponsored. ...

Releasing the information would be quite damaging to a couple former employees. ...

..The athletic department is sick about this

One of players, Fofana, has remained with the team....

a couple responses....and of course I know everyone cares and everyone feels and for the kids who were injured...

-what difference does it make who "sponsored" the study. Surely the University knows what it says and they have the results. They are hiding the results for their purposes and it does not look good. Telling what went wrong and how it could have been avoided cannot possibly be seen as releasing privileged information.

-"not university sponsored" - again - legal double-speak and BS. The players pretty much are compelled to do what the team tells them to do since they know their lifelong livelihood, scholarship etc...all depend on it. They are a captive audience and their health is the responsibility & concern of the Athletic training staff. If the University is gonna try to shift blame and use the alibi that someone else is responsible, I think they will lose that argument and look bad in the process.

-no, releasing the info is not what was DAMAGING - what those employees did is what was damaging. This is like a doctor who commits malpractice trying to get off by saying - "wait - talking about this incident where I committed malpractice and suing me would be damaging so let's not do it!"

-sure they're sick about it but they are NOT the victims so lets not try to drum up sympathy for the people who may have committed a negligent act. Something clearly went wrong and very serious injuries that were not intended occurred.
Right from the start they dodged responsibility and downplayed how serious these injuries were.
You cannot convince me otherwise - sure looks like they are hiding facts and trying to dodge legal liability, as many people would. But it is still right to be forthcoming and honest and not look like they are lawyering-up all the time.

-I don't see where Fofana staying with the team is any kind of defense for their actions that harmed him and Scurry. The kid came to MSU after bouncing round to a couple low level jucos - so where would he go now that he's damaged goods? I don't believe he had any other offers. If he has any hope of ever playing basketball or getting a college degree, I don't see that the kid had any choice other than to stay there.
Obviously Scurry saw different and left.

[bradleyfan124]

I am trying to think what the people in the Sopranos would have done to rectify the situation. Oh yeah!! here today disappear tomorrow. Lol!!

[tornado]

two other recent articles add a little more...

one in the News-Leader that states pretty clearly that they are staying quiet to avoid liability - and that they should still release the findings to help assure this doesn't happen elsewhere - they even speculate on how big of a deal this would have been had it happened to now-NBA-star Alize Johnson...

then the other article interviews one of the guys who works for the cryotherapy equipment company - and there is a report that the players froze their feet because they had either wet or improper socks on or possibly none at all.

http://www.clubindustry.com/news/missouri-state-keeping-quiet-after-student-athletes-were-injured-during-cryotherapy-sessions

sprinter Justin Gatlin also got similar injuries - and they did not lie calling it blisters, they called it what it is - severe FROSTBITE - from the same mistake - entering the chamber with wet socks that then froze - and a woman in Nevada died from it --

https://www.bbc.com/sport/athletics/14648191

https://www.thescoopie.com/blogs/news/cryotherapy-is-the-hot-er-cold-new-answer-to-training-recovery

[Da Coach]

...recent articles add a little more...

...then the other article interviews one of the guys who works for the cryotherapy equipment company - and there is a report that the players froze their feet because they had either wet or improper socks on or possibly none at all.

http://www.clubindustry.com/news/missouri-state-keeping-quiet-after-student-athletes-were-injured-during-cryotherapy-sessions

First, that article did not interview someone who worked for the cryotherapy company that treated the MSU players. The explanation about the socks came from someone at a different cryotherapy company. But the explanation does not make any sense, though I do agree that they should have done more to protect the athletes' feet.

I have spent over 45 years in the medical field, have used liquid nitrogen innumerable times and performed medical cryo procedures on many people, so I have a pretty good knowledge of how this procedure is supposed to work, and what likely went wrong.

I will preface this with a disclaimer that I don't have any direct knowledge about this specific case, other than what has been reported publicly. But the procedure the athletes had performed on them uses liquid nitrogen, which has a temperature of at least 321 degrees below zero (-321?° Fahrenheit), to cool the air inside the chamber, and the cooling effect is theorized to reduce muscle inflammation and promote healing and regeneration, though there is no strong scientific evidence that it works.
Here is a simplified summary-

https://www.techtimes.com/articles/61392/20150618/cryotherapy-works-why-star-athletes-love.htm

But the fact that these 2 athletes suffered severe blisters only on their feet, combined with the fact that only 2 players suffered the injuries, despite the fact that every player on the men's team and 8 of their women's players went through the same procedure, suggests that there was some kind of malfunction or negligence that allowed the liquid nitrogen to flow into the chamber (the players are in a standing position while in the chamber), and the -321?° F liquid nitrogen likely pooled at the bottom of the chamber while the 2 players remained standing in it. That direct contact by the liquid nitrogen with the skin on their feet would have caused severe thermal injury to their feet, exactly what they have been described to have suffered.

Whether they wore socks or not, or whether they had wet socks on seems irrelevant. Something went terribly wrong. There is simply no way their skin should have been subjected to such severe cold temperature to be injured like it was.

[tornado]

the "wet socks" argument is valid and perhaps the single most common reason this type of injury occurs. Dry socks protect the feet (which have less blood flow than the trunk of the body) from the cold air but if the socks are wet, then the frozen water in the socks could drop to more than 100 degrees below zero and impart a damaging effect on the skin beneath.

http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/training-day/201112/thats-cold-wet-socks-ice-bath-may-have-cost-nba-player-manny-harris-his-job

[tornado]

Scurry transfers to Middle Tennessee - he [url=https://www.dnj.com/story/sports/college/mtsu/2018/04/15/middle-tennessee-basketball-mtsu-lands-reggie-scurry-forward-missouri-state-nick-mcdevitt/519392002/]appears to have immediate eligibility ...

Ex-Missouri State Reggie Scurry did get the waiver to be immediately eligible...
he played last night and had a nice stat line in Middle Tennessee's 22 point win...
19 points, 11 rebs on just 8 shots from the field

[Da Coach]

Glad it sounds like Scurry has recovered well from his nightmare cryotherapy mishap at Missouri State.
Unfortunately, the other player injured, Abdul Fofana had more severe injuries. He did not play again after the injuries back in January, 2018, and is still at Missouri State, but is redshirting this season and still trying to recover. One has to wonder what his future is. Most schools will list redshirting players on the roster, but Fofana's name has been completely removed from their 2018-19 roster page, and there has been no official mention of him other than a brief statement from new head coach Dana Ford back on June 20 that he would redshirt.