MEAC Basketball: Makur Maker commitment makes Howard a contender

Kenny Blakeney hit paydirt with the commitment of 5-star 2020 recruit Makur Maker. In doing so, the balance of power in MEAC Basketball’s now condensed conference hoops picture may be starting to shift in a big way.

The recruitment of 5-star hoops talent has traditionally been a bridge too far for most HBCU programs at the Division I level, with programs eventually losing out to high major powers with more established hoops pedigrees and infinitely more conference visibility. The recruitment of Makur Maker flew in the face of that narrative. In doing so, it may very well have changed how HBCU programs attack the prospect of recruiting top-end talent in general.

This off-season in MEAC Basketball circles has been a big part of that paradigm shift. Coach Blakeney’s incoming recruiting haul was already an extremely talented one but MEAC standards, checking all of the boxes in terms of holes that needed to be filled on the roster and re-building around all-conference guard and MEAC Freshman of the Year Wayne Bristol Jr.

Consider that particular mission accomplished. Maker’s addition automatically takes the Bison’s recruiting haul to the top as the MEAC’s best, with him being the best low-post talent that’s entered the league in decades. What are the Bison faithful getting in Makur Maker exactly? Well, the first thing that jumps out at you about him is that he’s pushing seven-feet tall, and close to 250 pounds with a wingspan that’s equally imposing. Then you get to watch him play.

Much like his cousin, NBA player Thon Maker, he’s extremely mobile for his size and has a formidable array of offensive ball skills for a man his size. He can score at all three levels and has a feathery outside stroke that’s effective past 3-point range. He runs the floor like a small forward and has the potential to become a formidable rebounder and defensive presence at the rim. In short, the MEAC hasn’t seen a big man with this kind of talent and skill set, maybe in the recent history of the conference, which is going to keep the rest of the conferences’ coaching fraternity up at night devising ways to defend him.

There have been questions about his motor, and his overall commitment to the defensive side of the ball, but it’s kinda nitpicking at this point. If Maker is indeed suiting up for the Bison this season, there won’t be a player in the league with more talent and upside when he’s on the floor.

In addition to newcomers Jordan Wood and Amir Rahimzad, the Bison’s frontcourt talent and depth go from one of the conferences’ worst in terms of production to potentially the best in the league on paper. That being said, the consensus still sees the path to the MEAC crown going through Durham and the top dogs in the league, North Carolina Central. That gap in parity, however, has closed considerably, with the Bison leading the charge.

Thon Maker’s little cousin isn’t the only marquee name that’s made their way to confines of the MEAC to hoop. Norfolk State landed 4-star combo guard Nate Tabor to bolster their recruiting class and Morgan State’s Kevin Broadus has quietly been stacking a bevy of talented D1 Power-5 transfers to add alongside 4-star PG Naseem Khalid.

Howard’s pull of Maker steals the show, though. Even the wizards over at Kenpom are taking notice of how big this is for the Bison basketball program:

With the nation’s focus being squarely on the MEAC for other reasons, the developments going on with Bison hoops has been a welcome and positive boon for the conference.

If and when Makur Maker sees the floor at Burr Gymnasium, it’ll arguably be the hottest college hoops ticket in the District of Columbia and the Bison will be a force to be reckoned with in an increasingly competitive Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.