Makur Maker pioneers the HBCU movement, picks Howard
The recruitment of Makur Maker has taken twists and turns over the years but it reached a crescendo early Friday morning on the east coast. The five-star center decided to end his college recruitment by committing not to any of the blue bloods of the sport, but to Howard and head coach Kenny Blakeney.
“I need to make the HBCU movement real so that others will follow,” Maker wrote on his Twitter post announcing his commitment. “I hope I inspire guys like Mikey Williams to join me on this journey. I am committing to Howard U & coach Kenny Blakeney.”
Maker chose Howard over Kentucky, Memphis and UCLA. In the fall, Maker took an official visit to the MEAC program, as did five-star guard Josh Christopher which, at the time, raised some eyebrows in which very rarely did elite talent even give a glance towards an HBCU institution.
In light of the Black Lives Matter movement and with the investment that Blakeney and his staff made into the recruitment of Maker despite constant murmurs that he would skip the college path entirely, it has created for a landmark type of decision on Friday. While Maker becomes just the first to take such a route in recent years in which Kyle O’Quinn is the lone HBCU graduate to be drafted over the past 20 years, Maker could open the eyes of many towards choosing such a landing spot compared to the typical high-major platform.
A chance does remain for Maker to not enroll at Howard but rather keep his name in October’s NBA Draft. Much will depend on the type of feedback that he continues to receive in the coming weeks with the withdrawal date set for August 3. In the meantime, Maker’s decision is a giant win for the HBCUs and nonetheless, should create even greater intrigue devoted to such programs including superstar freshman Mikey Williams who has already assessed his own interest in taking such a route.
