One of the top high school basketball recruits in the country made history Friday, announcing he will play for Howard University, a historically Black university.
Makur Maker is No. 16 on the ESPN 100 list for 2020. As such, Maker is the first five-star prospect to commit to an HBCU (Historically Black College and University) since ESPN began ranking prospects in 2007, according to The Undefeated.
"I need to make the HBCU movement real so that others will follow," Maker tweeted. "I hope I inspire guys like Mikey Williams to join me on this journey. I am committing to Howard U & coach Kenny Blakeney."
Maker, a 6-feet 11-inch center, chose Howard over his three other finalists: UCLA, Kentucky and Memphis, according to The Undefeated.
Howard head coach Kenny Blakeney recently told ESPN he understood the importance of landing a top recruit at an HBCU.
"Wherever a five-star lands, we can't mess it up," Blakeney told ESPN. "If we mess it up, we may not have another opportunity to be able to do it."
ESPN reports Maker "averaged 14.7 points and 7.9 rebounds while shooting 73% on 2-pointers last spring and summer with Dream Vision on the Adidas grassroots circuit."
Maker was born in Kenya before moving to Australia. He moved to California in 2015.
