No. 8 recruit Babatunde Oladotun stays home, picks Maryland
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Jeff Borzello
Jeff Borzello
Basketball recruiting insider
- Jeff Borzello is a basketball recruiting insider. He has joined ESPN in 2014.
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Paul Biancardi
Paul Biancardi
Basketball Recruiting
- National Recruiting Director for ESPN.com
- 18 years of coaching experience at Division I level
- Former Horizon League coach of the year at Wright State
Nov 19, 2025, 08:05 PM ET
Top-10 senior Babatunde Oladotun committed to Maryland on Wednesday, giving coach Buzz Williams his first five-star recruit in nearly a decade.
Oladotun picked the Terrapins over local rival Georgetown and Arkansas during a recruitment that seemed to change leaders multiple times over the past couple of weeks. He becomes Maryland’s first five-star recruit since Derik Queen in the 2024 class and Williams’ first since Nickeil Alexander-Walker committed to Virginia Tech when Williams was in Blacksburg back in the 2017 class.
«My relationship with Buzz Williams and the staff was great,» Oladotun said. «Coach Buzz is a realist. Sometimes, he is going to be raw. He is going to push you hard, break you down and build you up. He has developed players like Jimmy Butler and Jae Crowder.»
Oladotun, who attends James Hubert Blake High School in Silver Spring, Maryland, has two sisters who currently attend Maryland, and his trainer is former Maryland star and NBA veteran Walt Williams.
«Staying home just hits different,» Oladotun said. «The school is only 20 minutes away. I am a big family guy. I am a local player and have a chance to represent my home school. When the new staff got the job, they reached out right away. When I reclassed, they recruited me even harder.»
A 6-foot-10 forward, Oladotun was the No. 1 recruit in the 2027 class before reclassifying into the 2026 class in August. He is now No. 8 overall in the SC Next 100 and ranks as the No. 3 power forward in the country.
Oladotun averaged 13.2 points and 5.8 rebounds on the Nike EBYL circuit last spring and summer, suiting up for three games on the 16U circuit before moving up to the 17U Team Durant team. He began to play more consistently as the season progressed, scoring 28 points against Team Herro and 20 points against Team Takeover in July.
At 16 years old, Oladotun has impressive shotmaking talent and defensive upside. His archetype is that of a rim runner, but his advanced metrics suggest he is a switchable defender and a versatile wing with high pure scoring prowess. He contributes offensively as a shooter and a scorer as well as a finisher with length and touch around the rim.
Maryland entered the early signing period with the No. 19 recruiting class in the country, with SC Next 100 guard Kaden House (No. 47) and four-star forwards Austin Brown and Adama Tambedou already in the fold. House is a big-time scorer who should form a dynamic freshman tandem with Oladotun in College Park next season.
