He played college football at New Mexico Military Institute and Coastal Carolina and was selected with the fourth overall pick of the 2022 CFL Draft by the Edmonton Elks.

[2] After his graduation from the military school, he accepted an offer to play for the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers, over the UMass Minutemen and Southern Alabama Jaguars.

[2] In his second game with Coastal Carolina, against Kansas, Makonzo suffered a torn ACL that made him miss the rest of the 2019 season.

[2][5] He appeared in 12 games during the 2020 season, all but one as a starter, and was named third-team all-conference by Phil Steele after posting 76 tackles, 10.5 TFLs, two sacks and two forced fumbles.

[6] The following year, Makonzo recorded 71 tackles, 10.0 TFLs and a team-leading three forced fumbles on his way to being named first-team All-Sun Belt by Pro Football Focus (PFF).