Former Duke basketball champ makes history, no matter what comes next

An ex-Duke basketball player made a statement with a major recruiting feat.

Kenny Blakeney was far from a Duke basketball star (3.2 points per game). Yet the guard from Washington, D.C., was on some great squads. After redshirting the 1990-91 championship campaign, he played in 29 games for a 1991-92 team that finished 34-2 and again cut down April nets. Three years later, following a Final Four in 1994, the 6-foot-4 senior was a captain, albeit for the losingest Blue Devils in history.

ALSO READ: Ranking all 40 Duke teams under Coach K

Speaking of history, though, Blakeney made some on Friday as the head coach at Howard by reeling in a five-star recruit. Makur Maker, a 7-footer who ranks No. 17 on the 247Sports 2020 Composite, announced his decision via Twitter and is now the highest-ranked prospect on record to commit to a historically Black college or university.

Somehow, Blakeney managed the catch despite being in only his second year on the job, despite finishing with a 2-20 record last season, and despite competing against fellow finalists UCLA, Kentucky, and Memphis. The tweet from Maker, cousin of Detroit Pistons big man Thon Maker, noted what he intends to accomplish with the move:

“I need to make the HBCU movement real so that others will follow. I hope I inspire guys like Mikey Williams to join me on this journey. I am committing to Howard U & coach Kenny Blakeney.”

The teen he referenced, 6-foot-2 guard Mikey Williams, is one of the elite 2023 preps and could go down as the No. 1 spark to the potentially giant shift in recruiting due to one eight-word tweet back in early June:

“Going to an HBCU wouldn’t be too bad…”

Williams now holds an offer from Howard plus a host of other HBCU suitors: Alabama State, Delaware State, Florida A&M, Grambling State, Hampton, Morehouse, North Carolina Central, Southern, Tennessee State, and Norfolk State. Naturally, the San Diego native was quick to tweet his thoughts on Maker’s monumental moment:

“On your side my boy let’s shock the world!!!”

And another top 2023 recruit, 6-foot-5 Canadian guard Elijah Fisher, made a statement to SI last week that now looks a bit prophetic:

“As a young black teenager, there should be more honor in getting an offer from an HBCU. Our black schools are elite too. We have to change that way of thinking that only certain schools are big-time offers. I was excited that [Morgan State] offered me. I feel like someone just needs to make a big move.”

But will Duke basketball alum Kenny Blakeney actually land Makur Maker?

Skeptics were quick to chime in with doubt over whether Maker, who will turn 20 in November and received an exemption to enter his name in the 2020 NBA Draft due to his being only two credits shy of a diploma in 2019, will ever play a minute for Blakeney at Howard. However, what Jeff Borzello of ESPN wrote all but shut down such talk:

“He is likely to withdraw if he’s not expected to be a first-round pick. Maker is ranked No. 75 in ESPN‘s NBA draft rankings. There have been links between Maker and the G League, but sources have told ESPN he isn’t interested in going that route.”

Now, based on what Blakeney recently told ESPN, it seems the Duke basketball product grasps the pressure on his shoulders:

“Wherever a five-star lands, we can’t mess it up. If we mess it up, we may not have another opportunity to be able to do it.”

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