reclassified before committing to Southern California<\/a> in July. In college hoops, it\u2019s a newer fad. The thinking is that the sooner a top prospect gets to college, the sooner he can rake in NIL money, get to the NBA and ultimately sign a second NBA contract, which can set someone up for life financially (rookies drafted in the first round sign a contract based on their draft position and tied to the rookie pay scale; second contracts do not have those parameters).<\/p>\nThe introduction of NIL has dramatically altered the landscape of college sports, and agents who work with college athletes aren\u2019t surprised when top prospects choose to catapult themselves into college sooner. One agent, who was granted anonymity in exchange for his candor, said, \u201cIn general, I think you\u2019re going to see it more and more. If you feel you\u2019re ready and you can earn (NIL) now, why not?<\/p>\n
\u201cNow, is it a smart decision? That\u2019s a different conversation. The most valuable thing you can do as a freshman is play, and if you don\u2019t play well because you\u2019re not ready, that\u2019s going to hurt your earning potential the next three years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ibrahim and Baba insist money played no role in Baba\u2019s decision to expedite his graduation from Blake High School in Cloverly, Maryland, just north of D.C. Ibrahim said at least one major college coach told the family, \u201cBaba could play college ball right now,\u201d but that they did not feel pressured by coaches to reclassify. He has dozens of offers from top programs, including Gonzaga, Kansas and Kentucky, among others.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/USATSI_26208903-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
(Chris Day \/ The Commercial Appeal \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)<\/p>\n
Academically, after a few years of summer school, Baba was already on track to graduate early. This summer, he took 11th-grade English and was often \u201creading and writing papers between practices and games,\u201d Ibrahim said. \u201cWhen we were on the West Coast, he was getting up at 5 a.m. to take an 8 a.m. test back east.\u201d He plans to take pre-calculus this fall, and wants to study business marketing or finance in college.<\/p>\n
They also push back on the idea that this is just a ploy to get to the pros faster.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want him to be labeled as \u2018one and done\u2019 before he even gets to college,\u201d Ibrahim said. \u201cI don\u2019t think kids should be labeled like that at all. You go into school at 18 looking for good development. We\u2019re not trying to push him to do anything, to go to the NBA as soon as possible, nothing like that. And NIL was the last thing on our minds; obviously it comes with the territory in this day and age, but it\u2019s not at all why we did it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ibrahim said he and Baba are \u201ctalking to agents and educating ourselves, but we are not doing anything because they say we need to.\u201d<\/p>\n
Baba is comfortable with the move because he\u2019s already so familiar with the 2026 class, having played against it on the club circuit and at elite camps for years.<\/p>\n
\u201cMentally, it\u2019s like I\u2019m going back to my original class,\u201d he said. \u201cI vibe and chill with those (2026) guys all the time. It wasn\u2019t until COVID that I ever really played with my (grade) level. My dad always played me up to challenge me, and I hadn\u2019t really ever got out of the 2026 mindset. I\u2019m excited, not timid, about the challenges of college basketball. To play against the best of the best, that\u2019s what I want.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ibrahim and Baba estimate that when he gets to college it\u2019s feasible to add another 15-20 pounds of muscle to his wiry frame. Gaining weight has been a focus: He\u2019s put on more than 20 pounds since last summer. Ibrahim, who is 6-foot-8 1\/2, thinks it\u2019s possible his son could grow an inch or two more but thinks it would come in his torso because \u201chis legs are already longer than some 7-footers, his legs are done!\u201d (Both Ibrahim and Baba also admit, somewhat reluctantly, that Baba\u2019s mom, Dessire, standing just 5-foot-3 is not an advantage.)<\/p>\n
As a member of Team Durant, Baba has spent time with his team\u2019s namesake, and his long, lanky frame is reminiscent of the 15-time All-Star and four-time Olympian. On the club circuit, many current and former NBA standouts have teams named after them, usually the result of a financial sponsorship from the pro. Some, like Chris Paul and Bradley Beal, serve as assistant coaches. Others, like Carmelo Anthony, sit courtside and cheer \u2013 and heckle refs \u2013 relentlessly.<\/p>\n
Durant doesn\u2019t coach the team named for him, but Baba said he\u2019s around plenty and that he\u2019s learned a lot more from Durant than just how to emulate his hesitation, two-dribble pull-up. Durant has talked frankly about the discipline and focus required to have a pro career spanning nearly two decades. He\u2019s also harped on Baba that the greats are \u201calways trying to learn from other players, and always continuing to develop their game,\u201d Baba said.<\/p>\n
Playing up helps achieve that. And there is one area Baba needs to improve: His ability to beat Ibrahim one-on-one.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s not used to playing up to my level,\u201d Ibrahim taunted, and Baba\u2019s eye roll could practically be heard through the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe doesn\u2019t respect my foul calls,\u201d Baba said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t have to respect foul calls made by a 16-year-old,\u201d Ibrahim countered. He knows a switch is coming though.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen he can play up to my level,\u201d Ibrahim said. \u201cI\u2019ll retire.\u201d<\/p>\n
(Top photo: Chris Day \/ The Commercial Appeal \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Babatunde Oladotun has spent so much of his life playing up a grade or two in basketball that…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":196597,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[1339,1385,1317,1337,1338,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-196596","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-basketball","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-mens-college-basketball","10":"tag-ncaa","11":"tag-ncaa-basketball","12":"tag-ncaabasketball","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-unitedstates","16":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115139928587797266","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196596","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=196596"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196596\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/196597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=196596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=196596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=196596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}