AJ, meet D.C.
BYU forward AJ Dybantsa has been selected by the Washington Wizards with the No. 1 pick in Tuesday’s NBA draft.
Dybantsa had long been viewed as a potential top draft selection dating back to his vaunted high school career. Since then, and especially recently, he’s repeatedly expressed his desire to be the first name called at the draft.
Now, such expectations have become reality.
As a freshman with the Cougars this past season, the 6-foot-9 Dybantsa led the nation in scoring at 25.5 points per game, shooting 51% from the field while averaging 6.9 rebounds and 3.7 assists as well.
He was named the Big 12’s Freshman of the Year and a consensus First Team All-American, joining Danny Ainge and Jimmer Fredette as the only BYU players to earn the latter such recognition.
Additionally, Dybantsa is the first No. 1 NBA draft selection to come from BYU, surpassing former No. 2 picks Shawn Bradley (1993) and Mel Hutchins (1951) as the highest-drafted Cougar in program history.
“When I committed to BYU, I knew I was signing up for something bigger than basketball,” Dybantsa wrote in a LinkedIn post in April. “A lot of people questioned the decision. For me, the choice was simple. I wanted to go to the place that would best develop me as a basketball player and as a person. BYU was the program that gave me the clearest path to both.
“The moment I stepped on campus, I knew I made the right call. This school welcomed me in, raised the standard for me, and made me a better person every single day I was there.”
Dybantsa is the 19th Cougars player drafted since the NBA-ABA merger in 1976 and the school’s ninth first-rounder.
With Egor Dëmin being taken at No. 8 overall last year by the Brooklyn Nets, BYU has now produced first-round picks in consecutive seasons for the first time ever.
As for Washington, Dybantsa is the franchise’s third No. 1 pick in the lottery era (1985) and first since John Wall in 2010.
The Wizards finished 17-65 in the 2025–26 season and haven’t had a winning campaign since 2018, but the team’s elaborate rebuild has yielded Dybantsa and a number of other intriguing young players, along with veteran All-Stars Trae Young and Anthony Davis, who will attempt to lift Washington back into NBA relevance and playoff contention.
