In the summer of 2020, Makur Maker made headlines. The Kenyan-born South Sudanese-Australian athlete raised eyebrows because of where he chose to play. But unlike fellow five-star college recruits it wasn’t necessarily for the specific school he landed on. Instead, it was because of the type of school Maker chose. The then-16th ranked basketball recruit (according to ESPN) announced his decision to attend an HBCU. Specifically, Howard University.
At the time, this was largely unheard of. For the past 50 years, schools like the University of North Carolina, Gonzaga, Georgetown and Duke have dominated college basketball recruiting. Historically Black colleges like Howard, Fisk, Bethune-Cookman, Jackson State and LeMoyne-Owen have not commonly been considered by standout players, nor have they often been run by coaches who’ve competed at the highest level. As such, HBCU squads have rarely made major waves in March Madness.
