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Day after day in the fall, a blue Infiniti SUV puttered down Route 1, traversing the highway cutting across Maryland in a path often hindered by traffic and construction.
Inside sat one of the top boys’ basketball players in the Class of 2027, Baba Oladotun. His father, Ibrahim, drove him from the family’s Colesville home to DeMatha’s Hyattsville campus.
Oladotun looked ready to join the Stags, adding another name to the long list of elite talent at private schools. But, largely because of a tedious commute, he switched to his nearby public school, Blake, in late October.
“I underestimated the power of the hours that we spent on Route 1, especially during rush hour,” Ibrahim said. Baba was not made available for an interview.
The freshman went from a Washington Catholic Athletic Conference powerhouse to a Montgomery County program that has never won a state title and has not made the semifinals in more than a decade.
The move ignited a fervor in and around the school, elevating a solid Bengals squad that has lost in the region finals for three straight seasons to the inner circle of Maryland state title contenders.
It mirrored similar moves by local basketball players, mostly boys, that seemed to counter the parade of talent to private programs and deepened the competition in public leagues. South Lakes, Broadneck, St. Charles and more have former private school players on their rosters.
Those players’ reasons for switching often center on three desires: different roles, familiar communities and smoother logistics.
Oladotun is likely to be the most impactful of them. He’s a 6-foot-9 guard and still growing. Some call him “Baba the Baller,” as his Instagram name suggests, and the content of that account validates the moniker. In a September highlight reel, he starts with a dunk and knocks down a three-pointer. Later, he snakes through the defense on a pick and roll and finishes with a reverse layup.
Read more here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2023/12/05/baba-oladotun-blake-dematha/
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