Tommy Hannon is a 2013 University of St. Thomas graduate working at Medtronic but he isn’t just your typical recent college grad. After receiving platelet rich therapy, he is currently being recruited to play professional basketball overseas after a stellar red shirt senior year. Tommy has a great story of perseverance and overcoming obstacles that got him to this point.
A top recruit out of high school, Tommy was a freshman starter for the Tommies, made All American and carried the team through winning seasons. But his collegiate basketball career was not completely easy and carefree. Tommy pushed through a major setback to reach his phenomenal senior year after receiving platelet rich plasma therapy (PRP).
It started his sophomore season when he experienced an injury and ended up having his meniscus repaired during the off-season. Tommy rebounded and had a great junior season but had more severe knee pain at the beginning of his senior year.
Tommy was devastated when he was told he could never play again and doctors were recommending invasive surgery to take care of the pain due to a Baker’s Cyst. Tommy did research and asked all the professionals he knew about other, safe options. He came to see Dr. Odom in December of his senior year after hearing about Platelet Rich Plasma Therapy (PRP). Dr. Odom recommended he indeed stop playing for safety, take a red shirt year due to medical hardship and use this “pause” to focus on PRP and physical therapy.
Tommy went through three PRP treatment sessions, stayed off his knee, was consistent with physical therapy and made extreme progress after just those three sessions. MRI results showed drastic improvement and Tommy’s doctors released him to play his red shirt senior year with time to train over the summer. His last season, he led the University of St. Thomas Tommies to the NCAA Division III Final 4 and received enough attention that he is considering a career in professional basketball overseas.
Here is Tommy’s advice for younger or older athletes considering Platelet Rich Therapy:
“You’ll be a little sore after the first PRP session. I had to sit out and stay off my knee for a while but it was worth it. I was able to play and cut hard with no pain after the third session. Doing physical therapy along with the PRP made a big difference too. The treatments preserved my knee and gave me options I didn’t have before.
If you have an injury or a doctor is recommending surgery, look at all your options first. Don’t take just the first opinion. If I had done that and had surgery, I would never have played basketball again. Consider PRP; it really works.”