HBCU basketball prospects are looking up partly because of what Norfolk State University basketball Coach Robert Jones terms a “culture shift.”

Last month, Coach Jones signed highly touted 6-foot-8 forward Nate Tabor of Queens, N.Y., beating out the likes of St. John’s, Auburn, Louisiana State University and the University of Connecticut.

“As talk of a culture shift in collegiate sports has become relevant recently, Nate Tabor has decided to start that shift,” Coach Jones said. “It’s not every day we or other HBCUs get a Top 100 (in the nation) player.”

Tabor is rated a four-star recruit on a scale of 1 to 5 by ESPN. He is considered the No. 38 forward nationwide. He originally committed to St. John’s but opted out following the dismissal of Red Storm Coach Chris Mullin. Now he’s headed to NSU.

“No question Nate is our highest rated recruit since I got here,” Coach Jones said. “In fact, it’s not even close.”

Coach Jones was an NSU assistant coach from 2007 to 2013. Since becoming head coach during the 2013-14 season, his head coaching record is 84-28 in MEAC play.

Tabor played at Sacred Heart High School in Waterbury, Conn., as a junior. He also drew much attention with the New York Rens travel team.

This past season, Tabor attended South Shore High School in Brooklyn, N.Y., but did not play. He has met all NCAA academic standards and will be eligible to play for the Spartans on Day one of the 2020-21 season.

“Usually, if an HBCU gets a top-rated player, it’s as a transfer,” Coach Jones said. “We’re so happy Nate will be coming in as a freshman.”

NSU’s good fortune came prior to recent news that 6-foot-11 Makur Maker, a five-star recruit out of Hillcrest Prep in Phoenix, Ariz., was headed to Howard University.

Bison Coach Ken Blakeney beat out the University of Kentucky, UCLA and the University of Memphis to land Maker, who was born in Kenya and lived in Australia before coming to the United States.

“I need to make the HBCU move real so others will follow,” Maker said on Twitter.

He’s hoping that perhaps Mikey Williams, 16, of San Diego, a five-star recruit and one of the top players nationally in the Class of 2023, will follow and attend an HBCU.

“On your side my boy let’s shock the world!!!,” Makur tweeted to Williams.

Williams has listed several HBCUs, including NSU and Hampton University, on his early list of college favorites.

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There are tall barriers to clear for HBCUs signing heavily recruited basketball prospects.

Game attendance at HBCUs lags behind many other NCAA Division I conferences.

North Carolina A&T State University led the MEAC in attendance last season with 2,796 fans per game. South Carolina State University was last with an average of just 606 attendees per game.

Although MEAC has TV contracts with ESPNU and Flow, its games aren’t televised nearly as much as some conferences.

Then there’s the NBA issue.

Currently, only two NBA players came from HBCUs— Robert Covington, out of Tennessee State University, with the Houston Rockets, and Kyle O’Quinn, out of NSU, with the Philadelphia 76ers. Coincidentally, Coach Jones recruited O’Quinn to NSU out of New York.

“But it was nothing like Nate,” Coach Jones said. “Robert only had one scholarship offer – NSU’s. He developed into an NBA player while he was here.”

As for Tabor’s high ceiling, Coach Jones said, “Nate can do it all. He’s got NBA potential.”

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The MEAC and SWAC are the only historically Black Division I NCAA conferences. The winners of both leagues receive automatic berths into the Division I tournament.

The CIAA and SIAC are in the NCAA Division II and face a much taller climb in landing big-name prospects.

That said, Virginia Union University, a member of the CIAA, has sent Mike Davis, Charles Oakley, Terry Davis, Jamie Waller, A.J. English and Ben Wallace to the NBA. Wallace was the most recent in 1996.

The last CIAA player drafted into the NBA was Shaw University’s Flip Murray in 2002.

O’Quinn was the last MEAC player drafted in 2012 after No. 15 seed NSU scored a stunning NCAA upset of No. 2 seed University of Missouri in the NCAA Tournament’s first round.

Coach Jones is trying to balance the enthusiasm of the moment with reality in assessing the future of HBCUs at- tracting top talent.

“The social climate being what it is now brings HBCUs more to the forefront,” Coach Jones said. “But it’s going to take more than two (Tabor and Maker) to complete a culture shift.”