PORTLAND, Ore. — There will be some who say that what AJ Dybantsa does in the next few days, or weeks, in the NCAA Tournament for the BYU basketball team will determine whether the freshman superstar is remembered fondly in Provo forever or viewed as a bust, a well-compensated athlete in this NIL generation who could not take the Cougars to the promised land — the Final Four.
That kind of sentiment would be utterly misguided.
The teenager from Brockton, Massachusetts, has already put BYU on the college basketball map, endeared himself to millions worldwide, and cemented his legacy as a generational talent who bucked the odds and picked a non-blue blood program in the college basketball landscape. Then he carried BYU to unprecedented heights in terms of its national standing and image — feats that may never be duplicated along the Wasatch Front ever again.
Another big opportunity for Dybantsa to add to his legacy will arrive in primetime in the East — that tipoff timing is no accident — when the 23-11 Cougars square off against the SEC’s Texas (19-14) in an NCAA Tournament first-round game Thursday night (5:25 MDT, TBS) at Moda Center.
No matter how long BYU’s run in March Madness lasts, the memorable moment will be just one of many that have occurred since Dybantsa explained in December of 2024 to ESPN’s bombastic and flummoxed Stephen A. Smith why he was going to relatively off-the-radar BYU instead of the likes of Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky or Kansas.
“Who said I can’t play (against) Duke at BYU?” Dybantsa retorted, winning the hearts and minds of BYU fans with one well-placed comeback.
BYU and Dybantsa will not get a shot at Duke unless both the No. 1 seed Blue Devils and No. 6 seed Cougars reach the championship game — a tremendous longshot considering BYU has more appearances (32) in the Big Dance without a Final Four entrance than any program in the country — but the presence of Dybantsa is the reason why Thursday’s game has had more buildup by CBS and TBS than any other first-round game.
For that reason and many others, Dybantsa has been worth every penny he is getting from his various NIL deals and BYU via revenue sharing. It is the AJ effect.
He’s also the reason why coach Kevin Young and his staff were able to put together the best nonconference schedule in school history, playing the likes of Nebraska (exhibition), North Carolina (exhibition), UConn, Wisconsin, Villanova, Miami, Dayton and Clemson before Big 12 play began.
Without those numerous Quad 1 wins before BYU went 9-9 in the Big 12 regular season and then 2-1 in the Big 12 tournament, a No. 6 seed would not have been in reach.
Simply put, BYU would not be where it is now without Dybantsa, who in one season has played himself onto the Mount Rushmore of BYU basketball greats, alongside Kresimir Cosic, Danny Ainge and Jimmer Fredette. Tuesday, Dybantsa was named to the Associated Press All-America First Team, becoming only the third AP first-teamer in BYU history, along with Ainge and Fredette.
Young said his favorite aspect of coaching Dybantsa is the teenager’s approach to the game.
“He’s serious, and he’s very coachable. That’s probably the thing I like the most, is you tell him to do something, you ask him to do something, you try to get his opinion (and you get it),” Young said. “You can have a legitimate basketball conversation with him, and it’s high-level stuff. It’s real stuff. His IQ and his coachability are probably the things I like the most.”
Living up to the hype, and then some
Because his BYU team has failed to meet preseason expectations — the Cougars were picked to finish second in the Big 12 and were viewed by some as a possible Final Four candidate — Dybantsa is not getting as much consideration for National Player of the Year honors as he deserves. Individually, he has surpassed expectations, and lived up the hype that has accompanied him since he broke onto the national scene as a 15-year-old prodigy.
Whatever happens in the tournament, Dybantsa and BYU will again be in the national spotlight in June, when the NBA draft is held and the teenager is a top-three pick, perhaps the No. 1 pick.
“I think Dybantsa is the easy (No. 1 pick),” said one unnamed Eastern Conference general manager to ESPN. “He’s special, and there’s just so much for him to still grow into.”
Said BYU’s Young after Dybantsa put a career-high 43 points on rival Utah in January: “He’s hands down the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft.”
But first things first — the Big Dance. How will he handle the spotlight, which will burn even brighter in March Madness, if that’s possible?
“AJ is a pretty even-keeled person, so I think he’ll be fine,” Young said. “But still, man, this tournament captivates America for a reason. It’s a big deal, and it’s fun to play in. … So we will try to allow Rob (Wright) and AJ to do what they do at a high level, without getting in their way.”
By now, most hardcore college basketball fans know the numbers: Dybantsa leads the country in scoring with a 25.3 average, and has scored in double figures in all 34 of his games, including 27 20-point outings. He has scored 30 or more points seven times, and scored 20 or more points in 13 straight games heading into the tournament, the second-longest streak in BYU history.
Dybantsa upped his game in the Big 12 tournament, scoring a tournament-record 93 points to break the mark held by his hero, Kevin Durant, who, coincidentally, played for Texas, the Cougars’ first-round opponent.
Consider Texas coach Sean Miller also impressed.
“He’s an amazing player and talent,” Miller said Wednesday, less than 24 hours after the Longhorns escaped Dayton, Ohio, with a 68-66 win over NCAA State in a First Four game. “I would call him generational. … AJ is that position-less player. His ability to get fouled is unlike anyting I’ve seen.”
Duke’s Cameron Boozer is the odds-on favorite to be a consensus national player of the year, and for good reason. He’s the best player on the country’s best teams. BYU clearly is not, beset as it has been by injuries and some effort issues on defense that Young believes he has resolved.
“Just the respect that he has for BYU, the way we do things, what we stand for, and the fact that he’s embraced it, and is proud of it, is pretty unique.”
— BYU basketball coach Kevin Young on AJ Dybantsa
Dybantsa and Young have steered clear of excuses, but the early-season losses of rotation players Nate Pickens and Dawson Baker and the Feb. 14 loss of second-best player Richie Saunders, injuries that have been out of Dybantsa’s control, have stymied the Cougars’ progression.
But Dybantsa hasn’t given up, or thrown in the towel.
“I only have one more chance. I gotta go win six straight (games),” he told the Winning Formula podcast last week, an acknowledgement, of sorts, that this really will be his only season at BYU.
Embracing the culture: Why Dybantsa quickly became beloved at BYU
Long before he stared down ESPN’s Smith, Dybantsa was already on the radar of BYU fans, who went all-in on the pursuit when rumors circulated that the Cougars were in the running for the superstar from Massachusetts by way of Hurricane’s Utah Prep Academy.
After Dybantsa signed, he became a major celebrity in Provo, attending several Cougar basketball games and receiving standing ovations at every turn. He was a hero before he even scored a point wearing BYU blue.
In May of 2025, Dybantsa further showed he was embracing the culture of Provo and the faith that owns and supports BYU, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, by attending church services in Utah County.
“First time at (an) LDS Church,” read the caption on Dybantsa’s Instagram account, with pictures of himself wearing a white-collared shirt, a gray suit and a blue tie outside the building. Other pictures showed him mingling with similarly dressed young church-goers.
Young said it hasn’t been an act.
“Yes, it is genuine. What drives it is his parents (Ace and Chelsea). They’re great people. They’re great humans. They’ve just really raised him to be respectful,” Young said. “Just the respect that he has for BYU, the way we do things, what we stand for, and the fact that he’s embraced it, and is proud of it, is pretty unique.”
Last fall, Dybantsa took a class at BYU called “Mission Prep,” although he is not a church member. He said he enrolled in the class to get a better understanding of what a couple of his teammates, such as Saunders, have done and what they taught. Saunders served in Seattle.
Dybantsa was in three in-person classes last fall, also attending a music class and a required student success class, University 101.
Growing up, Dybantsa attended St. Sebastian’s, an all-boys Catholic school in Needham, Massachusetts, and has referred to himself as a Catholic.
In January, he told the Deseret News that he got a 4.0 grade point average during fall semester and that the missionary preparation class “was a really enjoyable experience.” He said he prides himself on taking mostly in-person classes and not online-only classes as some high-profile athletes throughout the country opt to do.
Winter semester, “I am in-person for most of my classes, but I did have one online class,” he said. “I’m just trying to get the full college experience while I’m here, going to school. I have three classes, three days out the week, and they are all going good. I am trying to interact with as many people as I can.”
“Yes, it is genuine. What drives it is his parents (Ace and Chelsea). They’re great people. They’re great humans. They’ve just really raised him to be respectful. Just the respect that he has for BYU, the way we do things, what we stand for, and the fact that he’s embraced it, and is proud of it, is pretty unique.”
— BYU coach Kevin Young on AJ Dybantsa
Two months ago, Dybantsa told a Fox Sports broadcast crew, which included analyst Miles Simon, that his favorite thing to do at BYU outside of playing basketball is go to his classes, and mentioned that a Book of Mormon class taught by Tyler Griffin is his favorite. The class is for students of all faiths.
All those elements have combined to make Dybantsa as popular a figure off the court as on it, and caused him to mention several times throughout the season that he made the right choice in going to BYU.
“I’ve got no regrets whatsoever,” he said after scoring 40 points against Kansas State in BYU’s Big 12 tournament opener. “I wouldn’t have chosen any other school. I am glad that I took the time and didn’t rush the recruitment process and didn’t make the wrong decision.”
Engineering a transformative season for BYU
Young is obviously the architect of the current BYU basketball team, having replaced Mark Pope in 2024, and his ability to persuade Dybantsa to join him in Provo when BYU was competitive with — but not far above, as many have reported — financial packages including NIL and revenue sharing offered by other schools such as Kansas and North Carolina has been well-documented.
Young sold Dybantsa on the idea that he was going to run the team like an NBA franchise and turn BYU into an NBA pipeline, although the school which has only been in a power conference for three years had no such track record before Young arrived. The first sign that Young was on the right track came last summer, when BYU freshman Egor Demin was selected eighth overall by the Brooklyn Nets.
The Nets announced on March 9 that Demin would miss the remainder of the season with plantar fasciitis in his left foot. He ended his rookie season averaging 10.1 points and 3.3 assists per game, a solid start to his professional career.
Dybantsa has taken what Young, Demin and Saunders (a possible NBA draft pick) started in 2024 and elevated the program to even greater heights.
From the time he scored 21 points on 9-of-18 shooting in a 71-66 win over Villanova in Las Vegas to his 25-point effort in an 86-84 loss to UConn near his hometown in Boston, Dybantsa has thrived as the focal point of BYU’s offense. He’s now the face of the program, just as quarterback Bear Bachmeier, who is also Catholic, has emerged as the face of BYU’s football program.
Teammate Jared McGregor, who served a church mission to Spokane, Washington, said Dybantsa has made this a season to remember, regardless of what happens next.
“It starts at the top with coach Young recruiting good guys, and obviously AJ is a great guy. He has great talent, but he’s an even better person. He’s done a really good job just embracing the culture here at BYU, embracing the fan base. We are really lucky to have him as a teammate.”
A 28-point effort in the come-from-behind win over Clemson at Madison Square Garden in New York City, a 35-point performance (then a career-high) in the win over Abilene Christian, were among the December highlights.
Dybantsa established his career-high on Jan. 24 with that 43-point outburst against rival Utah, then struggled a bit in the long-awaited showdown with Kansas and fellow freshman phenom Darryn Peterson.
Peterson outplayed Dybantsa in that head-to-head affair, scoring 18 points in 22 minutes before leaving the game due to leg cramps. Dybantsa attempted just 12 shots against the double- and triple-teaming Jayhawks that day, making six, and finished with 17 — well below his average. But after that highly publicized matchup on national television, Dybantsa took the high road and heaped praise and congratulations upon Peterson, a long-time rival.
Dybantsa did the same thing after a bitter 79-71 loss at West Virginia, a loss that would cost the Cougars a No. 7 seed and first-round bye in the conference tournament. When it was suggested that he was “shut down” by the Mountaineers despite scoring 20 points on 7-of-15 shooting, he credited WVU’s “solid defensive game plan” and vowed to play better the next time around. That he did, as BYU buried WVU 68-48 in Kansas City.
When he was told after scoring 43 points against Utah that two other freshmen — Houston’s Kingston Flemings (42) and Keaton Wagler (46) of Illinois — had also surpassed the 40-point barrier, the first time in college basketball history that three freshmen accomplished that on the same day, Dybantsa was eager to share the spotlight.
“These freshmen are going crazy. I feel like we have a crazy (good) class. I feel like we have one of the best classes in recent years,” he said. “I have been playing with these guys since I was 15, starting at EYBL and different camps, Nike academies and (Steph) Curry camps and different camps, so I have seen these guys grow, and it is amazing to be a part of it.”
Cougars on the air
NCAA Basketball Tournament First-Round Game
No. 6 seed BYU (23-11) vs. No. 11 seed Texas (19-14)
- Thursday, approximately 5:25 p.m. MDT
- At Moda Center
- Portland, Oregon
- TV: TBS
- Radio: BYU Radio 107.9 FM/BYURadio.org/BYU Radio app