Top-ranked Baba Oladotun Makes a Major Move

Five-star Baba Oladotun, the top-ranked 2027 prospect, is moving into the 2026 class, according to numerous media reports on Thursday.

Top-ranked Baba Oladotun Makes a Major Move

The 6-foot-9 Oladotun, a hybrid small forward/power forward, has decided to reclassify from 2027 up to 2026. This move doesn’t come as a surprise, as there had been rumblings of late that he was planning to do this. As a member of the 2027 class, virtually all of the primary recruiting services had Oladotun as the No. 1 national player.

Oladotun’s reclassification into 2026, however, means he will lose that top-ranked spot. However, he’s still highly ranked by recruiting websites. On Thursday, per Rivals, he was No. 13 overall. Via 247Sports, Oladotun dropped to No. 8 nationwide. The industry-generated composite ratings, though, have Oladotun higher in 2026.

For one, the 247Sports Composite places Oladotun at No. 5 nationally, No. 2 at small forward and No. 1 in Maryland within the 2026 class. Over at the Rivals Industry Ranking, Oladotun checks in at No. 6 overall, No. 2 at small forward and No. 1 in Maryland. With a strong 2025-26 season for his high school program in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, Oladotun could vault even higher.

Baba Oladotun is an All-American Player

Oladotun is a standout at James Hubert Blake High School in Silver Spring, MD. In the 2024-25 campaign, he helped guide the Bengals to an impressive 23-2 overall record, according to MaxPreps. Last season, Oladotun averaged 22.5 points, 7.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.8 steals per game. MaxPreps named him a first-team All-American for the sophomore class.

In recent months, there were rumors circulating that Oladotun may transfer to a new school. At this point, the expectation is that he will remain at James Hubert Blake for his now upcoming senior season in 2025-26. Oladotun’s scholarship offer sheet is stacked with more than 40 high-major scholarship offers.

According to recruiting services, his full offer list includes schools such as Arkansas, BYU, Florida State, Georgetown, Georgia Tech, Gonzaga, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisville, Maryland, Miami, Michigan, Ohio State, Ole Miss, Oregon, Syracuse, Tennessee, Texas, UCLA, USC, Villanova and Virginia, among many others. There is no favorite for Oladotun at this time, analysts say.

EYBL and Peach Jam Performances

This spring and summer, Oladotun played up a division for the 17U squad of the Oxon Hill, MD-based Team Durant in Nike’s EYBL league. Analysts and scouts praised Oladotun for his performances on the EYBL circuit, as he was technically in the 2027 class during the latest AAU season and played primarily against 2026 prospects.

During the EYBL regular season, Oladotun averaged 14.2 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.8 assists per contest. Last month, at the EYBL’s annual season-ending Peach Jam in North Augusta, S.C., Oladotun tallied averages of 13.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game. At Peach Jam, he helped lead Team Durant to the quarterfinals in the main 17U division.

Earlier in July, at the EYBL’s fourth and final regular-season session, Oladotun was outstanding. He averaged 17.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.5 blocks per encounter. The scouting experts at The Circuit named him their underclass MVP for this particular session.

Official Visits to Monitor

To date, Oladotun has unofficially visited Big Ten Conference teams USC and UCLA. He’s yet to take any official visits, although Oladotun will at some point. Jacob Polacheck of KSR+ reported that Oladotun plans to officially visit Kentucky. Other suitors that could get an official visit from him include Maryland, a hometown team, along with Gonzaga and Virginia Tech, among others.