As a result of the murder George Floyd by the Minneapolis PD, basketball players from all levels have been using their platform to stand up against racism.
One of these players is Mikey Williams, one of the best and most famous high school basketball players in the country.
On his twitter Williams stated that “going to an HBCU wouldn’t be too bad.” For those who don’t know, an HBCU is a Historical Black College and University. The appeal of going to a HBCU for Williams is that all the revenue from his name would go to the black community. Williams also said “if you are a killer you are going to kill anywhere” showing that he thinks that if a star player goes to an HBCU they have the chance to develop.
It also shows his willingness to go against the status quo of attending a blueblood school such as Duke, Kansas or Kentucky and attend an HBCU instead.
Soon after Williams’ tweet he picked up multiple offers from HCBUs such as Alabama State, Grambling State, Howard, Norfolk State, Tennessee State, and Texas Southern.
These schools don’t give out offers unless they think they have a chance at landing a prospect, so they believed Williams when he said he would attend an HBCU. Mikey Williams has also said that when he narrows down his list of schools there will be HBCUs on his list and not just for show.
Soon after all of this, Howard University extended an offer to another top recruit in the class of ’21, Trevor Keels. Additionaly, top 10 player in the class of 2020, Josh Christopher stated “everyone needs to take the HBCU visit and take it seriously.”
Another top recruit, Makur Maker also took a visit to Howard this year. One HBCU coach said: “honestly, all that it would take is one top-25 kid coming to an HCBU, being successful and going on to play in the NBA. Then a lot of other kids would follow. It would change everything.”
If a player like Mikey Williams plays at an HBCU many people will follow considering Williams is one of the most popular players in the country.
Many people think it is possible if an HBCU school gets one top recruit many others may start coming, and it could possibly become a trend, giving HBCU’s more exposure and more money and thus, more revenue to the black community.
Photo: Chadd Caddy
