AJ Dybantsa’s freshman campaign will go down as one of the greatest individual performances in BYU basketball history.
Now, Cougar fans are expressing their gratitude for his efforts on the court by serving those who helped him on his journey to Provo.
As part of a watch party for BYU’s game against West Virginia this past weekend, the Boston chapter of BYU’s Alumni Association held a charity drive collecting books and other school supplies to donate to Dybantsa’s former elementary school in Brockton, Massachusetts.
“We love that AJ is from Massachusetts,” said Leslie Graff, chair-elect of BYU’s Boston alumni chapter. “We love just being able to bring more resources to this community and really show that we believe in the potential of the students there and in helping them have great opportunities for learning.”
On Monday, more than 500 donated books were dropped off at Davis K-8 School, along with a signed and framed Dybantsa jersey to display in the school.
Davis associate principal Dorine Pinkham — among the school faculty who wore royal blue sweatshirts on Monday to honor BYU — called it a “top highlight” of her more than two decades in education.
“We are overwhelmed, just overwhelmed with gratitude for the love has been shown by AJ, his family and the BYU community,” Pinkham told the Deseret News. “This is unbelievable.”
The book drive was part of BYU’s Cougs Care initiative, which has organized more than 30 pregame service projects for various BYU athletic events across the country since 2019.
During this past football season, Cougs Care held winter clothing drives in Iowa and Cincinnati, a book drive in West Texas and an elaborate food drive ahead of the Big 12 championship game, among other projects.
While Dybantsa and the Cougars did play a game in Boston earlier this season, various outside factors made putting on an official Cougs Care project then difficult.
However, Graff and her team at the Boston alumni chapter pushed to still host a Cougs Care project later in the season, not wanting to squander the opportunity to team up with Dybantsa and do good for their shared home area.
Thus, the watch party and book drive came to life, with BYU’s matchup at West Virginia — the Cougars’ lone weekend, East Coast Big 12 contest this season — selected for the date.
“We wanted to do something to benefit that community because it’s a historically under-resourced area. We thought it would be fun to do something centered around education, as that’s a pretty strong shared value in New England. It seemed very fitting to do a project focused on that,” Graff told the Deseret News.
In all, 12 different Davis classrooms received full sets of chapter books, and more than 150 other books were added to classroom libraries as well.
Considering how many students at Davis are currently learning English, and that Davis teachers had previously needed to print out PDF versions of assigned books for students to read, the donations will ease a considerable burden for the school.
“I don’t think people always appreciate how much in a classroom has had to be slowly acquired or purchased or donated. Normal school budgets, they just don’t stretch very far,” said Graff, who was once an elementary school teacher herself.
“I can really appreciate what a difference a donation of hundreds of books and supplies means to the quality of the education that you can provide.”
Added Pinkham, “We are in an urban district, it’s a high-need community. For our students to be able to get such a donation of brand new books and supplies, it’s just absolutely unbelievable.”
While hundreds of books were brought to the actual watch party, more than 70% of the donations came from an online Amazon wishlist, allowing for BYU fans in Utah, California and many other locations to contribute to the Brockton cause from thousands of miles away.
“In Brockton, we think of ourselves as a tiny little blip in the universe, right? So the generosity that we’re feeling from the other side of the country, and all the alumni that are spread out wherever they’re living, there are no words,” Pinkham said. “I was tearing up trying to express our gratitude because really, there’s not enough words to express our appreciation. Our gratitude is immeasurable.”
Dybantsa has been active in a number of charitable causes, having raised money for disaster relief in Jamaica, donated basketball gear to underprivileged youth and even hosted his foundation’s first charity event recently. He’s been no stranger to Davis, returning to his old school “many times,” according to Pinkham, for opportunities to give back.
In partnering with Graff and her team, Dybantsa filmed a video to promote the book drive while also spreading the word through his social media platforms.
“He’s a Cougar like the rest of us now, he’s embraced that,” Graff said. “He’s entered to learn and play basketball, and he’s already using that platform and that position to serve. We’ve been so appreciative of him partnering with us on this to bring more visibility to the community, to help, to give back to that community, to champion that community.”
Graff feels that Dybantsa’s example and willingness to serve will help others in Massachusetts to understand “what BYU is all about and know of our commitment to ‘enter to learn, go forth to serve.’”
But Dybantsa’s success on and off the court will also serve as inspiration for the young Davis students who will read the books he helped provide for them and pass his jersey in the school lobby each day.
“Kids will see, ‘AJ was sitting in this same school that I was, and now he’s here and now he’s doing this,’” Graff said. “There’s potential for all of us to keep going. We’re not all going to be basketball players, we’re not all going to be in the NBA, but we’re all on different journeys, different paths and have meaningful things to contribute in the world.”
