On Friday morning, five-star center Makur Maker announced his commitment to Howard University.
Maker is the highest-ranked college basketball prospect to ever commit to an HBCU.
“I was the 1st to announce my visit to Howard & other started to dream ‘what if’,” Maker announced on Twitter. “I need to make the HBCU movement real so that others will follow. I hope I inspire guys like Mikey Williams to join me on this journey. I am committing to Howard U & coach Kenny Blakeney #MakerMob.”
I was the 1st to announce my visit to Howard & other started to dream “what if”. I need to make the HBCU movement real so that others will follow. I hope I inspire guys like Mikey Williams to join me on this journey. I am committing to Howard U & coach Kenny Blakeney #MakerMob
— MK (@MakurMaker) July 3, 2020
Kentucky, Memphis, and UCLA were also on Maker’s final list of schools.
Standing at 6-foot-11, Maker is the 16th-ranked player in ESPN’s top-100 and the first five-star prospect to commit to an HBCU. He previously entered his name into the NBA Draft but will likely withdraw his name if a first-round selection isn’t in the cards.
In the past few months, HBCUs have become more aggressive in their approach to recruiting top prospects, mainly in the 2021 and 2022 draft classes.
Five-star 2020 guard Josh Christopher took an official visit to Howard last fall before committing to Arizona State.
Williams, who is a five-star prospect in the 2023 class, has been one of the most vocal prospects about potentially playing at an HBCU.
Blakeney, who played at Duke, recently talked about the potential a five-star commitment could have on HBCUs. “Wherever a five-star lands, we can’t mess it up,” Blakeney said to ESPN. “If we mess it up, we may not have another opportunity to be able to do it.”
Maker could become the first player drafted from an HBCU since Kyle O’Quinn was a second-round selection in 2012.
Howard is coming off of a season in which they went just 4-29 (1-15).
