UCLA Basketball: Bruins Offer Possible Best Prep Prospect in His Class

The Blue and Gold are going all-in on top stateside prospects.

Dec 20, 2011; Los Angeles, CA, USA; General view of seat cushions at the the Sports Arena with the words: UCLA Basketball 2011-2013 Road Show before the game against the UC Irvine Anteaters. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-USA TODAY Sports / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

UCLA Bruins men's basketball head coach Mick Cronin is wasting little time in embarking on his current recruiting scheme: focusing on the best prospects nationally, while de-prioritizing international recruits.

The 2023-24 Bruins boasted eight new players, including seven freshmen. Several of those freshmen were top international prospects, including forward Berke Buyuktuncel (now with Nebraska), center Aday Mara (still in UCLA, for now), wing Ilane Fibleuil (still in the NCAA transfer portal), and swingman Jan Vide (now with Loyola Marymount). None of the international freshmen made any kind of oncourt impact for Mick Cronin, who played them sparingly if at all by the end of the season. The Blue and Gold finished with a paltry 16-17 record, missing the NCAA Tournament entirely for the first time in Cronin's tenure with the program.

Per Tracy Pierson of Bruin Report Online, Cronin has offered a scholarship to 6-foot-8 small forward Babatunde Oladotun, a rising sophomore at James Hubert Blake High School in Silver Spring, Maryland.

According to 247Sports, Oladotun has received offers from six other colleges thus far, in addition to UCLA: Bryant, Louisville, Tennessee, USC, Virginia Tech, and West Virginia. Two other programs are said to have significant interest (again, thus far): DePaul and Maryland.

It may be an uphill battle to secure Oladotun's services, especially since NBA prospects nowadays have a lot of options beyond college, when it comes to how to best fill their gap year between their prep school run and the pros.

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