Babatunde (Baba) Oladotun, the nation’s number one basketball recruit in the class of 2027 and James Hubert Blake High School student, is changing the high school basketball scene in Montgomery County, Maryland.
Along with being the top recruit of his class in the country, Baba’s success is highlighting the strength of public schools, as opposed to the private school route that many ranked athletes take.
“I mean, private school isn’t bad, but playing at public school, you can get the same experience. Yes, you’re playing against lower competition but you get game experience,” emphasized Baba. “You get high-level basketball, you get to play a lot of minutes and all that good stuff.”
Baba celebrated local peers who are catching the eyes of recruiters on the hardwood, including Acaden Lewis, senior point guard from Sidwell Friends School, who committed to University of Kentucky recently, calling him: “one of the best guards in the country.”
He also spoke of Qayden Samuels, junior forward from Bishop McNamara High School, saying “he can do a little of everything: lengthy, can score, great rebounder and defender.”
Despite playing against other public schools during the season, Baba sharpens his skills in the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) circuit as well as invitations to high-profile basketball camps such as USA Basketball.
“When I’m going to the top [basketball] camps, I’m playing against guys that are two, three years older than me, going to big time schools in the Big 12 and ACC, So when I go back to public school, it just feels a lot easier, ” said the teen basketball player.
With the distractions that national attention can bring, Baba handles life of a high-profile student-athlete by working hard.
“[It’s about] just being productive,” he said. “Time is definitely a big thing for me, it’s always been God, grades and games for me, so just knowing my priorities and then getting it done.”
The word about Baba has already begun to spread nationally. While ESPN recently ranked him as the best 16-year-old basketball player in the nation, he remains humble.
“I know about the hype and it is cool but at the end of the day, I have to keep working and stay humble,” Baba told The Informer. “I’m trying to get to another level. There’s always another level. There’s always someone that’s accomplished way more than me.”
For Baba, keeping his faith is of utmost importance.
“I haven’t really proven anything, I have a little bit of accolades but nothing crazy. I just need to keep working and trusting in God.”
As Baba dominates the hardwood in Montgomery County and beyond, public schools are getting more attention for their training.
Boys Varsity Head Basketball Coach at Blake, Desmin Wade, spoke about Baba and the excitement surrounding the team from the community.
“With Baba growing up in the community, it definitely takes things to the next level. Everyone embraces him and the team like it’s a big family. Sometimes I tell the guys to stop and take a look in the stands,” said Wade. “Embrace the privilege and live in the moment. It’s pretty cool to see how basketball can pull a community even closer.”
He shared the ethos of Blake’s basketball program.
“We try to develop players to be high IQ guys that would be ready to play on the next level. We always talk about ‘the standard,’ they hold each other accountable.” he said. “Baba has told me some of his goals, so I push him every day in some sort of way. It could be physically or mentally, he knows how much we love him so he embraces it all.”
Coach Wade believes more high-profile players will embrace the public school scene moving forward.
“I think more ranked players will take a look at public schools in Montgomery County and in general. When you look at the history there are so many notable players that went to public school and went on to have amazing NBA careers,” Wade said. “There are a lot of phenomenal coaches in private schools but there are a lot of public school coaches who are on the same level or even better.”
Boys Varsity Head Basketball Coach at John F. Kennedy High School Coach Lenny Myers echoed those sentiments.
“The MoCo [Montgomery County’ public hoop scene is starting to get back to where it used to be in the early 2000s,” Myers told The Informer. “Teams like Magruder, Springbrook, and others frequently won state championships in that era and we are excited to see the trend of our talent going public.”
The COVID-19 pandemic played a major role in the relationship between public and private schools for athletes.
“There has always been an incredible amount of talent all throughout MoCo,” he said. “When COVID hit we saw a lot of public school kids go private because the private schools were still playing games during that time.”
But, Myers has noticed a shift, with Baba at the helm of the migration.
“Since then, we have seen a spike in private school players returning to their home public schools as well as players deciding to start their high school career at public schools,” Myers said. “Baba has definitely been a catalyst in this movement.”
Ibrahim Oladotun, Baba’s father, has been inspired by his son’s hard work.
“He definitely pushes me both on and off the court, keeping me humble and grounded — to have good confidence and just helping me apply things in basketball into life as well,” Oladotun told The Informer.
A former athlete himself, the father knows all about what it takes to be a successful basketball player. He played basketball for two years at the junior college level before earning a roster spot at Virginia Tech.
Now, he has taken it upon himself to ensure his son receives high-quality training.
“We’re here at the library until 1:30 p.m., then we’ll go workout from 2 p.m. until around 3:50 p.m., then he has practice,” he explained. “Some days we go back to the gym from maybe 8:30 p.m. to 9:45 p.m.”
After seeing a shift in style of playing in the professional league, Oladotun knew he would have to find a different approach.
“Seeing the NBA change, I knew I would have to develop him differently. I made sure I taught him guard skills. Dribbling, shot mechanics and stuff like that,” said Oladotun.
The father explained with Baba currently standing at 6-foot-9, having guard skills can create a huge advantage against taller, slower players.
Oladotun marveled at his son’s basketball journey.
“He developed into [basketball] It was really just a change of attitude. Around the spring of his 8th grade year, something just snapped, he had become this alien. That’s the best word to describe it,” Oladotun told The Informer. “He just wants to be in the gym and work, he’s even pushing me. Early mornings we’ll try and get gym access. He’s just become a self-driven, self-motivated individual.”
Baba has a chance to help win the first State Championship in team sports history at Blake High School but, he doesn’t want all the credit.
He thinks the whole team, down to the bench, has a chance to do something special.
“We’re one of the best teams in the county,” Baba told The Informer. “We have a lot of great players, even our bench is pretty good, we just got to keep working.”
