College basketball recruiting: Five-star forward Baba Oladotun commits to Maryland

First-year Maryland coach Buzz Williams made his first major splash on the recruiting trail Wednesday as five-star recruit Baba Oladotun, the No. 10 overall player in the Class of 2026 and the No. 1-ranked player from the state of Maryland, announced his commitment to Williams and the Terrapins program. Oladotun chose Maryland over GeorgetownKentucky and Arkansas.

“The relationship I built with coach Buzz Williams and the entire coaching staff was really crucial to me,” he said during his announcement aired live on his YouTube channel. “They took the time to get to know me and my entire family.”

Oladotun’s said his two older sisters go to Maryland so the chance to be close to family — and close to home as a Maryland native — was for him a place that offered “so many opportunities.” He added his trainers and his entire support system are also there.

Oladotun was originally in the 2027 class and ranked as the No. 1 player before reclassifying in August. 247Sports ranks him as the No. 3 small forward in the class.

247Sports’ Director of Scouting, Adam Finkelstein, said this of him this summer after the reclassification. He has been highly productive on the Nike EYBL circuit playing for Team Durant.

Oladotun is a late-blooming jumbo wing, who has continued to grow throughout his high school years and now stands at 6-foot-10 with a 7-foot-1 wingspan. He’s still physically undeveloped with a lean frame, boxy shoulders, and high center of gravity, but isn’t apprehensive to play through contact and only going to keep getting better as he grows into his body.

His game, like his frame, is still a work-in-progress, but loaded with long-term potential. It’s the vast scope of his versatile tools that is perhaps most compelling. He’s already a threat to make plays as a handler, shoot over top of contesting defenders, or take smaller defenders into the mid-post. He tends to be a bit upright, but he has good hands and is very comfortable with his dribble. He made just 28% of his threes and 63% of his free-throws in EYBL play, and has an elbow that can fly out on his way up into his release, but still soft natural shooting touch to develop.

Where he really excels is with his footwork. It comes out in the mid-post area, but even more so at the end of his drives. He has an instinctive ability to navigate the lane in ways that can’t be taught, with a full repertoire of maneuvers after he picks up his dribble. He decelerates well, utilizes euros, but also knows when to elongate his strides. He’ll even mix in pro-hops, spins, fake-spins, and step-throughs. He’s a solid athlete, who can jump off either one foot or two, and can cover ground as more of a long-jumper, but it’s really the footwork between his last dribble and before his finish that is so elite.

The addition of Oladotun gives Maryland the No. 3-ranked class in the 247Sports Team Rankings behind only Michigan State and Kansas. He joins a class that also includes four-star recruits Kaden House and Adama Tambedou as well as three-star wing Austin Brown.