Baba Oladotun on staying home, committing to Maryland basketball: "we just have everything we need here"

Ahmed Ghafir
18 hours ago
5 min read

After fielding over 40 offers amid a reclassification decision, Blake (MD) five-star Baba Oladotun set a flurry of official visits before canceling his final three visits to settle on a final four: Arkansas, Georgetown, Kentucky, Maryland.

In the final 48 hours, the two local teams proved to be the last two standing with Oladotun announcing moments before revealing his decision that Maryland and Georgetown had separated from the SEC interest. In the end, Oladotun became the third five-star prospect to commit to Maryland – and second under head coach Buzz Williams – in as many recruiting cycles, serving as the signature addition in the 2026 recruiting class.

“Just from my visit, the relationship that I built with coach Buzz Williams and the entire staff meant a lot to me, felt safe,” Oladotun said about why Maryland won out. “Both my sisters went to Maryland. It’s a 20-minute drive. Just the offensive scheme he has for me as a player to come in and dominate as a reclass-up freshman. It was meant for me, it was made for me. I’m ready to take on the pressure to be a hometown kid. I’ve always dreamt of playing [in] a Maryland uniform so it’s a dream come true.”

Now, fulfilling something “that’s always been my dream” after growing up watching other local stars like Anthony Cowan Jr. and Melo Trimble shine in College Park, Baba knew steering far from home wasn’t something he was ultimately interested in.

“We just have everything we need here,” he said. “I have like some of the best trainers in the world here, great support system like I said earlier – my mom, my dad are crucial in my development. And just playing in front of my family as well, that was a great thing.”

Baba’s father, Ibrahim, noted the family was deciding between “two great coaches” in the final days, but the time spent around his own family proved to play a pivotal role down the stretch.

“When you look at it, if I have to go to Georgetown, maybe 15, 20 minutes more. You multiply that by 365 days, that's about 7,000 minutes, that's about 120 hours. What can you do with that? So time is something that I'm always – I’m very stingy when it comes to my time,” Ibrahim said after the commitment. “I can drive 20 minutes to the game, get a good parking, my daughters can be there. I can go to campus and grab my two daughters and go have lunch and dinner. How long am I going to have that opportunity? I don't know.”

Ibrahim spent the final two days meeting with the coaching staffs of the two finalists, first at Georgetown on Monday, then at Maryland on Tuesday. The official visits gave the family a chance to get an in-depth look at the programs, but Ibrahim admitted the direct conversations in the final days proved as important with a chance to “ask some tough questions.

“When you go to visit, it's more the moment, dinner time. When you actually kind of sit closer to the man, man-to-man talk, we find some things out,” Ibrahim added.

“The coaches will value that. Everything checked the box.”

It was after Tuesday’s visit with Maryland when Baba knew he had finalized his decision.

“Some days we go to bed thinking it's going to be Georgetown. Another day we wake up we're thinking now it's going to be Maryland. So now we slept two days in a row [thinking] it's Maryland, then let's do Maryland,” Ibrahim later added.

Just as faith is a key trait under a Buzz Williams-led program, it’s as important for Oladotun and his family with Maryland’s on-campus presence not lost on either Baba or his dad.

“I know how much he wants to be around and sisters, and plus, we have over 20 disciples from our church. We are born-again Christians that go to Maryland. They have a very huge campus ministry. If you guys go and look at somebody interview, you’re always going to make reference that somewhere they have a strong campus ministry. Maryland has that. My church minister goes to Maryland almost once or twice a week to minister today. So that for us, knowing that it's also going to be fellowshipping, worshiping with me any Sunday that is available in town. I can see him just like I'm seeing my daughters.”

Ibrahim noted in addition to a strong relationship with Buzz Williams, assistant Aki Collins has become a “good friend of the family” ever since Baba was recruited to Overtime Elite.

“We kind of have a natural flow.”

For Baba, former Maryland guard-turned-graduate assistant Seth Allen quickly connected with the five-star during his September official visit.

“On my visit, everything stood out about him. He played at Maryland. He’s just a great person on and off the court, I really look up to him.”

There’s another former Terp in Oladotun’s corner he didn’t forget on announcement day: Walt Williams, who’s trained the Blake High School star during his high school career with the five-star tabbing the former Maryland star a “pretty good guy in my life.

“He gives me a lot of knowledge on the game and stuff outside of basketball as well so he’s been a really good person in my life.”

But with longtime relationships established with his other finalists, Oladotun admitted the relationship with Maryland was accelerated – especially since the decision to reclassify from 2027 into 2026. “They really fast-forward the process, really got to know me and my family intentionally. Everything was raw, everything was real and everything was really intimate. I really appreciated that,” Baba added.

While Ibrahim added that the reason the two local schools also stuck out was “because of their love for defense,” wing development and production under Buzz Williams was something he evaluated. Whether it be Jae Crowder and Jimmy Butler at Marquette, or Nickeil Alexander-Walker at Virginia Tech, Baba knew he’d be someone who could flourish in the system.

“He's had a lot of like wings that produced offensively and defensively,” Baba added.

“I see myself hoping to be a superstar [in the] NBA.”

But there was another NBA product who reached out to the five-star during decision time: Wesley Matthews, who played under Buzz Williams for two seasons at Marquette.

“Wesley Matthews did encourage me to go out to Maryland because he was my coach at the NBPA Top 100,” Oladotun joked.

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