After reclassifying, this five-star recruit is taking a visit to UK basketball
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- Class of 2026 college basketball recruit Baba Oladotun is taking a recruiting visit to UK.
- Oladotun was originally part of the 2027 recruiting class before reclassifying to 2026.
- Oladotun is a 6-foot-10 prospect from Washington D.C.
One of the most intriguing prospects in the 2026 college basketball recruiting class will take a visit to Kentucky.
Baba Oladotun — a 6-foot-10 small forward with a 6-foot-11 wingspan from Washington, D.C., — now has a UK basketball visit on the books for Oct. 17-19, he told On3.
This means Oladotun will be on campus at Kentucky for the Wildcats’ preseason Blue-White event on Oct. 17 at Memorial Coliseum.
Oladotun was originally part of the 2027 recruiting class before announcing in August that he would reclassify up a year. At the time of his reclassification announcement, Oladotun was ranked as the No. 1 high school basketball prospect in the 2027 class in ESPN’s rankings.
Currently, Oladotun is ranked by the 247Sports Composite as the No. 10 overall recruit in the high school senior class.
Back when he was a class of 2027 prospect, Oladotun was the first high school sophomore in the country to pick up a Kentucky scholarship offer from Mark Pope and company.
“I’m a versatile player,” Oladotun told the Herald-Leader last year at a USA Basketball Junior National Team minicamp. “That’s one thing, I’ve always been a guard, and been able to play 1 through 5 since I was a kid, both offensively and defensively.”
Oladotun also comes with a college basketball pedigree. His father, Ibrahim, played in 46 games across two seasons at Virginia Tech.
Also last year at that USA Basketball camp, Ibrahim shared some positive early impressions of Pope with the Herald-Leader.
“He’s just like the guy next door,” Ibrahim said of the Kentucky coach. “The fact that he has the energy as a coach. … Just what he has done in such a short period of time. … He came to a good situation, but you have to be good as well. He’s just a very enthusiastic individual.”
Oladotun is still just 16 years old, and he won’t turn 17 until December. With NBA size and versatility, along with a diverse offensive skill profile, Oladotun is now firmly in the mix to be named a McDonald’s All-American early next year as a senior at James Hubert Blake High School in Maryland.
Baba Oladotun is another recruiting target for UK basketball
Since announcing his move from the 2027 to the 2026 recruiting group, Oladotun has made some moves toward determining his college home.
As an underclassman, Oladotun took unofficial visits to UCLA and Southern California. So far this fall Oladotun has visited Virginia Tech, Maryland and Georgetown. Kentucky this month is the next visit on his list.
Recently, Oladotun said that Pope and UK assistant coach Jason Hart were engaging in frequent conversation with his father.
So far, Pope and the Wildcats still have a goose egg on the board when it comes to commitments from the 2026 recruiting class.
Kentucky is one of only three SEC schools — along with Auburn and Georgia — without a commitment from the high school senior class. This hasn’t come from a lack of trying, either. Kentucky has notably missed on guards Jason Crowe Jr. (Missouri) and Taylen Kinney (Kansas) so far in this recruiting cycle, but the Cats are the perceived leader in the recruitment of small forward Tyran Stokes, the consensus top prospect in the class.
During UK’s annual preseason media day, Pope discussed the recruiting process he employs at UK.
“You’d be shocked at how many times we end up mutually walking away because we know what Kentucky is, and finding the right player here...,” Pope said. “It doesn’t amount to the sum of just going to find whoever someone is ranking the highest player.”
Pope’s first full recruiting class at UK earlier this year included two five-star freshmen in center Malachi Moreno and guard Jasper Johnson. But Pope is still yet to check the box of successfully recruiting a national high school prospect without previous Kentucky ties.
There’s still plenty of chances for Pope to flip this narrative with the 2026 recruiting class.
So far, only 16 of the top 50 prospects in the 2026 class have made their college commitment. That figure shrinks to only five of the top 25 prospects and two of the top 15 recruits.
Some previous recruiting connections could help Pope’s pitch with Oladotun. Pope has recent recruiting history in the Washington, D.C., area. Kentucky got a commitment from class of 2025 point guard and D.C. native Acaden Lewis, although Lewis went on to decommit from Kentucky and instead will begin his college career at Villanova.
Lewis and Oladotun played for the same program, Team Durant, on the Nike grassroots circuit.
This story was originally published October 9, 2025 at 10:55 AM.
