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Though it lacks much of the obvious starpower of Duke — its opponent in the Final Four — Houston has been one of the central characters of the 2024-25 men’s college basketball season.
The Cougars — the program of Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler and the Phi Slamma Jama teams of yore — have enjoyed a rebirth under coach Kelvin Sampson, making the NCAA Tournament each of the past seven years it was held after missing it all but one year from 1993-2017. In recent years, they’ve been dominant, going 159-23 since the start of the 2020-21 season, a stretch highlighted by a pair of Final Four appearances.
This season has been perhaps their best yet, with a 34-4 record and Big 12 regular season and tournament championships. A number of players have made those achievements possible, from All-American guard LJ Cryer to bruising big man J’Wan Roberts.
REQUIRED READING: Kelvin Sampson heads to Final Four having rebuilt Houston basketball and coaching career
The notable names on the Cougars’ roster hardly end there. There’s another Houston player that, based on his name and appearance, might make a hip-hop-inclined viewer say “Hmm.”
Mercy Miller is a freshman guard for Sampson’s squad who has been a contributor off the bench for much of the season, having appeared in 22 of the team’s 38 games. To at least a portion of the millions of viewers who will be tuning into the Cougars’ Final Four matchup Saturday against Duke at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Miller is known for reasons that go beyond basketball — he’s the son of hip-hop artist, producer and mogul Master P.
Here’s a closer look at Miller, including his career and his famous family:
Long before his Houston team reached the Final Four, Miller was used to the spotlight. If anything, he was born into it.
Miller is the son of Percy Miller, better known as Master P, a New Orleans-born rapper, producer, record company executive and entrepreneur who gained fame in the 1990s as the founder of No Limit Records.
Though he’d already compiled an impressive discography by that point, both as a solo artist and a member of the hip-hop group TRU, Master P became a global superstar with the release of his 1997 album “Ghetto D,” which included the popular singles “I Miss My Homies” and “Make ‘Em Say Uhh!” The latter of those songs is his most famous to date, in part because of a music video featuring Miller and others on the track taking part in a basketball game that included Shaquille O’Neal and a gold-plated tank.
Master P's basketball connections don't stop there. No Limit Records collaborated with his hometown New Orleans Pelicans on a jersey and other clothing. He was named the President of Basketball Operations for the New Orleans Privateers, and has alluded to wanting to be on the bench for the Pelicans at some point.
Fittingly, his family found its way into the sport, as well.
Master P himself as a basketball player growing up and even earned a scholarship to Houston before dropping out months into his freshman year.
Mercy, the youngest of nine children, is one of a handful of Miller siblings who have competed at the Division I level. His oldest brother, Romeo — best known as Lil’ Romeo, whose self-titled 2001 album went gold — played for two seasons at USC from 2008-10. Another one of his brothers, Hercy, wrapped up his senior season last month at Southern Utah after previous stops at Tennessee State and Louisville.
Master P has been an active presence in his sons’ basketball careers.
"He's super present," Mercy Miller said to the Indianapolis Star last week. "He gives me a whole bunch of advice. ... The biggest thing with him is about your mindset. He just wants me to have confidence in everything I do, knowing how much work I put in and just telling me to remain humble. At the end of the day, God blessed me with everything we have, so just remain humble, give God the glory and be confident that you put in the work."
Mercy Miller has interests beyond the court, as well.
He has shown his father’s entrepreneurial spirit through various NIL arrangements, including a $1.4 million deal with frozen Greek yogurt company Sweetkiwi. In November 2022, he started the Lord Have Mercy Foundation, which helps underprivileged children and their families. He was compelled to start the organization as a way to give back after an affluent upbringing in Los Angeles (in contrast to his father’s early life in the projects of New Orleans).
"It's super important to give back to the community to people who don't have as much as I've been blessed to have," Miller said to the Indianapolis Star. "That's just been something that's instilled in me. Seeing my dad, seeing his family and a lot of people that come from places where they weren't blessed with much. So, just trying to give people the opportunity to see different things in life. That's what I want to do."
Miller has been a role player off the bench for Houston this season. As a freshman, the 6-foot-4 guard is averaging 2.7 points, 1.9 rebounds, 0.4 assists and 0.3 steals per game while shooting 25.4% from the field and 17.9% from 3-point range in 8.5 minutes per game.
He had a career-high 12 points and four steals in his second game of the season, a 91-45 victory against Louisiana on Nov. 13. He has played sparingly of late and hasn’t appeared in a game since the Cougars’ first-round NCAA Tournament victory against SIU Edwardsville.
Though his contributions as a freshman have been limited, Miller arrived at Houston with an impressive profile.
Miller was a four-star prospect in the 2024 recruiting class, with 247Sports’ composite ranking having him as the No. 83 player nationally. He committed to Houston in August 2021 after also being recruited by Minnesota and Missouri.
As a senior at Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, California, he averaged 29.8 points, 9.3 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game while shooting 51% from the field. He set a school single-game record with 68 points in a win against Oakwood High School, draining 28 of his 38 shots.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Who is Mercy Miller? Master P's son is on Houston's 2025 Final Four team
Continue reading...
The Cougars — the program of Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler and the Phi Slamma Jama teams of yore — have enjoyed a rebirth under coach Kelvin Sampson, making the NCAA Tournament each of the past seven years it was held after missing it all but one year from 1993-2017. In recent years, they’ve been dominant, going 159-23 since the start of the 2020-21 season, a stretch highlighted by a pair of Final Four appearances.
This season has been perhaps their best yet, with a 34-4 record and Big 12 regular season and tournament championships. A number of players have made those achievements possible, from All-American guard LJ Cryer to bruising big man J’Wan Roberts.
REQUIRED READING: Kelvin Sampson heads to Final Four having rebuilt Houston basketball and coaching career
The notable names on the Cougars’ roster hardly end there. There’s another Houston player that, based on his name and appearance, might make a hip-hop-inclined viewer say “Hmm.”
Mercy Miller is a freshman guard for Sampson’s squad who has been a contributor off the bench for much of the season, having appeared in 22 of the team’s 38 games. To at least a portion of the millions of viewers who will be tuning into the Cougars’ Final Four matchup Saturday against Duke at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Miller is known for reasons that go beyond basketball — he’s the son of hip-hop artist, producer and mogul Master P.
Here’s a closer look at Miller, including his career and his famous family:
Master P son Houston basketball
Long before his Houston team reached the Final Four, Miller was used to the spotlight. If anything, he was born into it.
Miller is the son of Percy Miller, better known as Master P, a New Orleans-born rapper, producer, record company executive and entrepreneur who gained fame in the 1990s as the founder of No Limit Records.
Though he’d already compiled an impressive discography by that point, both as a solo artist and a member of the hip-hop group TRU, Master P became a global superstar with the release of his 1997 album “Ghetto D,” which included the popular singles “I Miss My Homies” and “Make ‘Em Say Uhh!” The latter of those songs is his most famous to date, in part because of a music video featuring Miller and others on the track taking part in a basketball game that included Shaquille O’Neal and a gold-plated tank.
Master P's basketball connections don't stop there. No Limit Records collaborated with his hometown New Orleans Pelicans on a jersey and other clothing. He was named the President of Basketball Operations for the New Orleans Privateers, and has alluded to wanting to be on the bench for the Pelicans at some point.
Fittingly, his family found its way into the sport, as well.
Master P himself as a basketball player growing up and even earned a scholarship to Houston before dropping out months into his freshman year.
Mercy, the youngest of nine children, is one of a handful of Miller siblings who have competed at the Division I level. His oldest brother, Romeo — best known as Lil’ Romeo, whose self-titled 2001 album went gold — played for two seasons at USC from 2008-10. Another one of his brothers, Hercy, wrapped up his senior season last month at Southern Utah after previous stops at Tennessee State and Louisville.
Master P has been an active presence in his sons’ basketball careers.
"He's super present," Mercy Miller said to the Indianapolis Star last week. "He gives me a whole bunch of advice. ... The biggest thing with him is about your mindset. He just wants me to have confidence in everything I do, knowing how much work I put in and just telling me to remain humble. At the end of the day, God blessed me with everything we have, so just remain humble, give God the glory and be confident that you put in the work."
Mercy Miller has interests beyond the court, as well.
He has shown his father’s entrepreneurial spirit through various NIL arrangements, including a $1.4 million deal with frozen Greek yogurt company Sweetkiwi. In November 2022, he started the Lord Have Mercy Foundation, which helps underprivileged children and their families. He was compelled to start the organization as a way to give back after an affluent upbringing in Los Angeles (in contrast to his father’s early life in the projects of New Orleans).
"It's super important to give back to the community to people who don't have as much as I've been blessed to have," Miller said to the Indianapolis Star. "That's just been something that's instilled in me. Seeing my dad, seeing his family and a lot of people that come from places where they weren't blessed with much. So, just trying to give people the opportunity to see different things in life. That's what I want to do."
Mercy Miller stats
Miller has been a role player off the bench for Houston this season. As a freshman, the 6-foot-4 guard is averaging 2.7 points, 1.9 rebounds, 0.4 assists and 0.3 steals per game while shooting 25.4% from the field and 17.9% from 3-point range in 8.5 minutes per game.
He had a career-high 12 points and four steals in his second game of the season, a 91-45 victory against Louisiana on Nov. 13. He has played sparingly of late and hasn’t appeared in a game since the Cougars’ first-round NCAA Tournament victory against SIU Edwardsville.
Mercy Miller 247
Though his contributions as a freshman have been limited, Miller arrived at Houston with an impressive profile.
Miller was a four-star prospect in the 2024 recruiting class, with 247Sports’ composite ranking having him as the No. 83 player nationally. He committed to Houston in August 2021 after also being recruited by Minnesota and Missouri.
As a senior at Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, California, he averaged 29.8 points, 9.3 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game while shooting 51% from the field. He set a school single-game record with 68 points in a win against Oakwood High School, draining 28 of his 38 shots.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Who is Mercy Miller? Master P's son is on Houston's 2025 Final Four team
Continue reading...
