The top high school basketball prospect in the country picked BYU as his college destination on Tuesday morning.
Let that sink in for a minute.
Boston native AJ Dybantsa, the consensus No. 1 recruit in all the land, is headed to Provo, at least for the next year as a “one-and-done” freshman until he almost certainly enters his name into the 2026 NBA draft. By almost all accounts, he will likely be the first player taken in said draft.
Dybantsa chose BYU over college basketball blue bloods North Carolina and Kansas. He also had Alabama in his final four, and the Crimson Tide was said to have been in his final two, along with BYU.
For the Cougars’ athletic department, and not just their basketball program, it is an absolute game-changer. It is impossible to overstate what Dybantsa’s commitment means to BYU. It is arguably one of the most monumental days in BYU sports history.
How monumental is it?
Shortly after Dybantsa’s commitment was made public, BYU’s class of 2025 team ranking in the 247Sports.com rankings went from No. 35 to No. 11. In November, BYU signed No. 31 recruit Xavion Staton and No. 123 recruit Chamberlain Burgess.
“Landmark day for the BYU Cougars,” wrote ESPN Senior NBA Insider Shams Charania.
“AJ Dybantsa is the whole package,” national basketball analyst Pat Forde said on the Field of 68 podcast Tuesday morning.
People who had not been following Dybantsa’s recruitment were shocked, evidenced by the reaction of host Stephen A. Smith on ESPN’s “First Take” when the 6-foot-9 phenom who calls himself a “point forward” donned a BYU cap and removed a jacket to reveal a BYU basketball T-shirt.
“I am shocked, I ain’t gonna lie, that it is BYU,” Smith said, noting that Dybantsa could have played in the famed Duke-North Carolina rivalry if he had chosen one of those schools.
“Who said I can’t play (against) Duke at BYU?” Dybantsa fired back.
That’s another game-changer for new BYU coach Kevin Young’s program. With Dybantsa in the fold, BYU’s 2025-26 nonconference schedule just got a whole lot better. Already there is talk of pitting BYU against Duke and the Boozer twins — Cameron and Cayden — in Las Vegas next year, probably around Thanksgiving.
“He is talented, man. He is super talented. He is that new age of versatile forward that everyone wants right now. He is an electric, versatile wing,” Forde said on the podcast.
Obviously, Dybantsa isn’t going to BYU for free.
BYU’s official NIL collective, The Royal Blue, immediately posted on X that it was heavily involved in the process.
“We are thrilled about AJ Dybantsa committing to the BYU basketball program,” Royal Blue posted. “During his decision-making process he said he was looking for a program that he felt would be family-oriented, had a coach who would develop him, and a program that would win. He’s found that in BYU. Something special is happening in this program and on this campus.”
The collective noted that some “875 donors from more than 30 different states” have provided support to “more than 300 BYU student-athletes across 13 teams.”
When he was asked by Smith what put BYU over the top, Dybantsa mentioned first-year coach Young and his NBA experience as an assistant coach with the Philadelphia 76ers and Phoenix Suns.
“My ultimate goal is to get to the NBA, and he coached my all-time favorite player (Kevin Durant) and had high praise about him,” Dybantsa said on “First Take.” “I went on my visit, and the head coach down to the analytics guy, then the analytics guy all the way down to the dietician is all NBA staff, even the strength guy.
“If it is all NBA, and I’m trying to get to the NBA, I think it is going to be the best development for me,” he continued.
Forgive BYU fans for also being shocked, after having watched other high-profile basketball recruits they thought they had a shot at, such as Jabari Parker and Frank Jackson, choose Duke in the past 12 years.
Rob Dauster of the Field of 68 podcast said Dybantsa will put up “huge numbers” at BYU and reminds him of NBA superstar Paul George.
“I don’t love making those comparisons. It probably isn’t fair,” said Dauster. “That is what he can be if everything works out for him.”
Want more proof that the hiring of Young last April has been a stroke of genius for BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe? On “First Take,” Dybantsa’s father, Ace, said he would like to see his son play for the Phoenix Suns — Young’s former employer.
At the Big 12 basketball media days in Kansas City in October, Young could not directly talk about Dybantsa’s recruitment, but he did acknowledge that BYU’s strides in the NIL space was “massively important” to landing recruits in this day and age of the transfer portal, NIL, and the like.
“When BYU decided to make the move to the Big 12, in my mind, that was them just saying they want to compete with the best. … We want to be able to compete with the best programs in the country in that area,” Young said. “There is a lot of support. BYU has an unbelievable fanbase and unbelievable amount of support. So being able to see what that translated to from the NIL space has been something I have tried to do my homework on quite a bit before taking the job.”
Young has talked a lot about his pitch of getting players ready for the NBA being “not hypothetical” because he has been there, done that.
And now he’s got the consensus No. 1 prospect in the country in the fold to show for it.
