basketball

Makur Maker became the highest ranked basketball recruit to sign with an HBCU since 2007

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As the 4th of July marked a celebratory day of respite from the monotony we've grown accustomed to during the Covid-19 pandemic, the world of men's College Basketball was watching the fallout from the fireworks that Makur Maker set off on the eve of the national holiday.

On July 3, Maker, the nation's 18th ranked recruiting prospect (Rivals.com) verbally committed to the HBCU (historically black colleges and universities) Howard University in Washington, D.C.—instead of a traditional basketball powerhouse such as UCLA or Kentucky. Maker will be the highest ranked basketball recruit, and only five star recruit, to sign on with an HBCU since the recruiting database was created by ESPN in 2007.

While Maker isn't the only top recruit in recent time to discuss playing for an HBCU, he is the only one that has actually gone as far as to commit to one. Trace Young was a three star recruit coming out of high school and played for Wyoming University his freshman year. Young decided to transfer to an HBCU, and in May announced he would be transferring to Alabama State University, one of six HBCU's he narrowed his choices down to.

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