Baba Oladotun Follows Top Basketball Recruits In Reclassifying And Earning Money Sooner

Forbes

4 days ago

College basketball coaches and NBA front offices are already well aware of Baba Oladotun, a 6-foot-9 wing from Maryland who doesn't turn 17 until December. Oladotun was considered the top prospect in the high school class of 2027 and a future NBA draft lottery pick. But last week, Oladotun reclassified to the class of 2026, meaning he is now entering his senior year of high school.
The decision allows Oladotun to enter college and the NBA a year earlier and earn millions of dollars in Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) deals, revenue sharing and professional salary sooner than if he had remained in the incoming junior class.
Oladotun is following a path that others before him chose, including Cooper Flagg and AJ Dybantsa. It could help him both on the court in terms of playing against older, better players and off the court in terms of gaining national exposure and reaping financial rewards.
Flagg, a 6-foot-9 forward, was once the No. 1 recruit in the high school class of 2025. But in August 2023, he reclassified to the class of 2024, a move that at the time and in hindsight seems like a no-brainer considering he was immediately ranked as the best player in his class and dominated in college. As a freshman at Duke last season, Flagg was the unanimous national player of the year. And in June, the Dallas Mavericks selected Flagg with the top pick in the NBA draft. He is expected to start for the Mavericks this season and is seen as a potential All-Star and franchise player. He signed a four-year contract worth a total of $62.7 million and could earn much more in his second deal.
Dybantsa, another 6-foot-9-forward, was the top player in the high school class of 2026 before reclassifying last October to the class of 2025. Like Flagg, Dybantsa was slotted as the No. 1 player in his new class, per 247Sports. In December, Dybantsa committed to BYU and reportedly received millions of dollars in NIL money.
Dybantsa is the highest-ranked recruit BYU has signed and should be one of the most closely followed players in the sport this season. The Cougars are ranked third in CBS Sports analyst Gary Parrish's most recent preseason poll. They have never been higher than 12th in the Associated Press preseason poll, but they should be in the top 10 this season in large part because Dybantsa is on the roster. Dybantsa, who turns 19 in January, is projected as a top-three pick in next year's NBA draft alongside fellow incoming freshmen Darryn Peterson (Kansas) and Carlos Boozer (Duke).
It is too soon to predict where Oladotun will land in the 2027 NBA draft. He is now ranked No. 8 in the class of 2026, per 247Sports, but he could move up with a strong senior season at James Hubert Blake High School outside of Washington, D.C.
Oladotun played this summer in the Nike EYBL circuit for Team Durant, a grassroots program founded by NBA star Kevin Durant, who also grew up in Maryland. At the prestigious Nike Peach Jam event last month, Oladotun played in the 17U division against players a year older than him and led the team to the quarterfinals. Eric Bossi, a 247Sports analyst, wrote that Oladotun was second on Team Durant with 13.2 points per game and that 'it was the attitude and approach, commitment to team, and effort on both sides of the floor that stood out.'
As of now, Oladotun has not committed to a college. He has received offers from numerous major programs, including Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisville, Michigan, Tennessee, USC, UCLA and Virginia. ESPN.com reported that Oladuton plans on visiting Maryland and Virginia Tech first, and his father, Ibrahim, told the website that Oladotun is 'looking for a coach that has a long history of teaching and winning,' has a history coaching big guards and plays an NBA-style offense. Ibrahim Oladotun played at Virginia Tech in the early 1990s.
Over the next few weeks and months, Oladotun will no doubt hear from numerous college coaches. They will try to convince him to join their programs and be a cornerstone in the 2026-27 season. If Oladotun continues progressing, he is likely to spend only one year in college before heading to the NBA. By moving up his timeline, Oladotun is able to play in major, nationally televised games earlier and is almost certainly making a smart financial decision that could pay off to the tune of millions of dollars.