'I Don't See It As A Sacrifice. I Just Dare To Be Different' - Makur Maker Explained Why He Chose Howard And It's Absolutely Fascinating
[Source] - For me, I don’t see it as a sacrifice. I see it as a contribution. I’m an NBA lottery-level talent, so I don’t see this as having an impact on my future. I just dare to be different. When I say contribution, this is a way to change the narrative and inspire young people to consider HBCUs as an option. There’s a lot of real change happening around the world, and I want to show people that this HBCU movement is real.
I grew up in Australia, where some of the professional basketball facilities were very similar to what they have at Howard.
I figured if LaMelo Ball could go to Australia, play in facilities like that, and still be considered a top NBA prospect, why not Howard?
This was the first interview Makur Maker has done since he announced he was going to play college ball at Howard. Yes, I fully understand the NBA Draft is still on the table. There's not a 100% chance that he ends up playing a game for Howard. But who cares? As of this moment he's an NBA Draft lottery pick and top recruit picking an HBCU and picking an HBCU over UCLA, Kentucky and Memphis. That's a cool story, no matter what he decides to do with the NBA Draft.
Makur Maker is the cousin of Thon Maker and yeah, you might say he's pretty good. The dude is legit 7'0", has handles and can play in different schemes. That's part of what makes this all interesting. He mentions how he grew up in Australia and compares to what LaMelo Ball did - just with the difference of getting paid.
But listening to Makur explain his decision and how he got there is cool. That's part of why we love college hoops. Yes, we love the laundry and the programs that we either went to/grew up around/had family go to/etc. But there is always, always a cool storyline to follow. That's why, selfishly, I'd like to see Makur play a year in college. Imagine what he'd do in the MEAC and the numbers he'd put up.
Do yourself a favor though and listen to his interview/read the article and good for him for not giving a shit. Yes, again, I understand you may want to say wait for him to play a game, but the point is he has people talking about Howard and HBCU's for multiple days now. That's awesome.