Mid-major Basketball: 5 biggest offseason storylines heading into 2020-21

4. Makur Maker makes history with move to Howard Bison

With the introduction of the G League Select Team being a threat to lure top-tier high school prospects away from college, there were a number of players who were viewed as very likely to go pro. Five-star center recruit Makur Maker was always viewed as someone who would never play in college. However, the pandemic closing off overseas options made him more likely to go the college route, with UCLA and Kentucky being viewed as the clear favorites.

Yet the conversation, thanks in part due to social justice momentum, brought the HBCUs into play. And Maker did take an official visit to Howard nearly a year ago, something that many just brushed off. But the shocking announcement that he would actually commit to the Bison shook the mid-major and college basketball world that weekend. He became the first-ever five-star recruit to commit to both Howard and to a MEAC program.

The historical nature of the decision aside, this is the best possible thing for head coach Kenneth Blakeney in his massive rebuilding job with this program. Just last season, Howard finished with a 4-29 overall record and went 1-15 in the MEAC. And now, they won’t have leading scorer Charles Williams after he graduated.

There is a solid incoming recruiting class, a couple of transfers, and rising sophomore guard Wayne Bristol Jr. coming back to give Maker some help. But even with a five-star recruit, the goal for the Bison should be to finish the season around .500 overall and just be more competitive in the MEAC. Annual heavyweight NC Central returns the bulk of their production from last season and should be considered the heavy favorite to win the league again. But in a one-bid league anyway, it wouldn’t be impossible for Maker to go on a huge run in March and grad the automatic bid. Those odds would be as long as the team landing a five-star player to begin with, so never count anything out.