Five-star Baba Oladotun stays home, commits to Maryland basketball over Georgetown, Arkansas

Ahmed Ghafir
2 days ago
3 min read

Head coach Buzz Williams now has his signature commitment as Maryland men’s basketball’s head coach after five-star Baba Oladotun announced his commitment, picking Maryland over a final group including Arkansas, Georgetown and Kentucky.

Oladotun, a 6-foot-10, 195-pound forward, becomes the fourth commitment in Maryland’s 2026 class alongside four-star guard Kaden House, three-star wing Austin Brown and four-star forward Adama Tambedou.

Oladotun also becomes the third five-star prospect to commit to Maryland in the last three recruiting cycles, joining current freshman Darius Adams and current Pelicans forward Derik Queen.

After reclassifying from 2027 into 2026, the local five-star kicked off his visits with the local swing after checking out Virginia Tech, Maryland then Georgetown before dipping into his SEC swing to visit Kentucky and close out the pursuit with a late October official visit to Arkansas. The Razorbacks carried the buzz coming out of the final official visit, but the local school never went away as Baba Oladotun and his father made their way to College Park for Maryland’s home opener vs. Georgetown before his father returned to check out the Hoyas for their home game vs. Syracuse.

But with head coach Buzz Williams at the forefront of the pursuit and Under Armour a big part of the Terps’ equation to keeping Oladotun in College Park, Oladotun will reunite with his sisters already enrolled in College Park with the five-star the program’s fourth-highest rated signee behind Diamond Stone, Derik Queen and Jalen Smith.

“They did an excellent job of explaining expectations,” Ibrahim Oladotun, Baba’s father, told IBG after the visit. “They did their homework. They talked about expectations, how we’re going to accomplish it, talked about the program, about the culture. They broke it down really well.”

“That says something about the man, to get people like that to come in and come with you wherever you go shows your leadership and how much you put people first. Not only that, people that worked with him in the past come join him because they know what to expect. That’s huge. Only Jesus people follow around like that. This guy is amazing. Whatever he’s doing, he puts people first. It’s going to be the love for what he does and the system. Getting people to come with you from the athletic staff to the trainers to the strength person, it’s huge and shows his leadership and how much he loves his people around him. That, for me, that says a lot about Buzz.”

Oladotun, who carries a 6-foot-11 wingspan and 9-foot standing reach, now becomes a key piece on Maryland's 2026-27 roster expected to feature Darius Adams, Andre Mills and Myles Rice among others while also losing Pharrel Payne, Solomon Washington and Elijah Saunders in the frontcourt. Oladotun averaged 22.5 points and 7.3 rebounds during his sophomore season at Blake while playing up on Team Durant’s 17U roster, enough to become the consensus top-rated recruit in the 2027 class before announcing his move into 2026 ahead of the fall.

ESPN wrote the new Maryland pledge, "becomes an immediate candidate for next year's McDonald's All American boys' game and has a chance to become a top-ten lottery draft pick in 2027," potentially giving the program its second selection across three consecutive NBA Drafts.

On3 Scouting Report:

“You immediately notice the length and the frame with Baba Oladotun. The jump shot is what he does, and it is where his production comes from at this point. He is around 6-foot-7 with long arms. His footwork getting into the jump shot is clean, and Oladotun is confident getting into it off the bounce or the catch. He is a threat as a pull-up jump shooter, getting a high release with good balance. He will need to continue adding weight, and with that, he could become a more consistent rebounder. With his length and natural athleticism, there is an upside there on the defensive end. The tools are obvious, and the upside here is worth monitoring.”

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