Even though there are plenty of old men in college basketball these days (including 24-year old Tyler Lundblade at Tennessee, 25-year old Isaiah Shaw at UConn, and 26-year old Dawson Baker at BYU), there is still a ton of talent on the other side of the spectrum. 17-year old Joaquim Boumtje-Boumtje is averaging 12 PPG/3 BPG through his 1st 2 games at Duke, 17-year old Davion Thompson is playing almost 20 MPG for Arkansas, and 17-year old Baba Oladotun has already become a key part of the rotation at Maryland. Yesterday HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Baba’s father Ibrahim Oladotun about his son’s decision to reclassify to the Class of 2026 and what it takes to raise 1 of the highest-ranked freshmen in the country.
Your son Baba turned down several 6-figure offers to attend fancy prep schools so that he could remain close to home at Blake High School: was it just a case of prioritizing geography over money? It was more about family unity over money. I also have a younger son and 3 daughters so the chemistry of keeping everyone together was the priority. They will all eventually grow up and move away so I do not know how long it will last.
He played for Kevin Durant’s AAU team, worked with Durant’s former trainer, and spent 10 days last year with Durant in Los Angeles: what kind of relationship does he have with the future Hall of Famer? Kevin cares about Baba a lot and we try to see him whenever he is available. He has given us an open door despite all his commitments: it is more of an open-heart policy!
He was ranked #1 in the nation in the Class of 2027 but decided to skip his final year of high school and reclassify to the Class of 2026: how difficult a decision was it? It was not a difficult decision. With his future trajectory and the talent he has, it seemed a good idea to take advantage of the resources that he can get in college. For example, he suffered an ankle injury in high school: if he was in college at the time then instead of waiting weeks to see a doctor he could have received an MRI right on campus. He can eat in the cafeteria, access all the great facilities, and also get a good education.
To get all his work finished by graduation day, he would sometimes have to eat meals in the car and do homework in between workouts: if you want to be a basketball star, does that mean you cannot spend your time being a normal kid? Some parents make their kids focus on academics and spend all their time in the library but I do not know if that counts as “normal”. Baba has 4 siblings and goes to church camp: the main qualities I worry about with my children are video games/social media. He played soccer/basketball and did other things, and being a born-again Christian is integral to his values. In Africa we have open doors but in America it is more of a closed-door society: you might have to go to the community center to meet other people and make friends. He is as normal as he can be, but basketball keeps him very busy, so we have to say no to some things and it is not easy. Last summer we turned down a chance to go to Nike Academy, skipped USA Basketball so that he could attend his homecoming dance, and even turned down offers from multiple shoe companies.
He missed most of last season due to an ankle injury, but in the state semifinals he made the game-winning shot in a 2-PT OT win over Meade, then helped his team beat Walt Whitman to clinch the school’s 1st-ever state championship in any sport: how bad was the injury? The injury was not that bad, but he had never been injured before on the basketball court, so we just went to a local orthopedist. He had to get an X-ray and when there was some swelling he ended up wearing a cast for 6 weeks, then went to physical therapy every week as a precautionary measure because we wanted to play it safe.
He received scholarship offers from several great schools including Arkansas/Georgetown/Kentucky: what made him choose Maryland? At age 17 he wanted to remain close to his home “village”. I am also a College Park landlord with several rental properties so it is very convenient for me!
You have invested a lot of time/money in your son’s training, which has allowed him to greatly increase his strength/flexibility: do you think it would have been much harder for your son to become such a great player if your family did not have the resources to support his development? The biggest resource at 1st was time. I arranged my life in a certain way and then my rental properties helped create enough income that it allowed me to work with Baba on his game. However, every time he grows a few inches he has to retrain his body so that it can get used to the angles/mechanics of the court. We have to be patient because there is no limit to where he can go.
You played pro basketball in England/Greece, your son Wale plays basketball in high school, and your daughters Shola/Yemi/Adeola played volleyball in high school: who is the best athlete in the family? Baba is up there…but my 2 youngest daughters are natural athletes who can jump effortlessly and are very fast.
He turns 18 next month: what are you getting him for his birthday? At this point I think I will just get him a hug: the best thing is that he will probably not be asking me for any money!
Any predictions for this season? I am a process guy so I take everything day-by-day. The coaching staff has a lot of confidence in him as a player and I think he will have a good chance to do amazing things this year. You cannot sleep on Coach Buzz Williams and his staff based on what they have done: only God knows where we can go. I am not a fan of “1-and-done” because it can put you in a cage, but I know that if he can take full advantage of the opportunity that Buzz is giving him then he can go far. There are not many 6’10” freshmen who can run the offense for their college team and push the ball up the court. The staff/team believes in him so hopefully they will bring the best out of him. He can exploit mismatches and he has proven that during practice.
