BYU basketball prospect AJ Dybantsa has made headlines throughout the college basketball offseason, garnering both attention and respect. During a NBA Summer League game Friday, Dybantsa says he can envision himself playing at that level.
“I can definitely envision myself being here, playing here,” Dybantsa said. “Hopefully winning it. Definitely, it's in the years to come.”
Dybantsa attended an NBA Summer League game on Friday in Las Vegas, between the Indiana Pacers and New Orleans Pelicans. The incoming BYU basketball freshman knew or played against several of the members on each respective team, he said.
Dybantsa has been named by ESPN as a possible no. 1 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. He chose BYU for the 2025-26 season, after receiving offers from essentially every power 4 basketball program. It is expected the young gun got a major NIL deal to go to Utah.
BYU basketball is still relatively new to the Big 12 conference, but the team has done well since joining the league. Under Mark Pope, the team made the NCAA tournament. BYU now has Kevin Young as head coach, who was an NBA assistant.
“He coached my favorite player, Kevin Durant, and he has a lot of NBA knowledge,” Dybantsa said, per ESPN.
The Cougars got a big prospect in Dybantsa. He was the no. 1 ranked player in the ESPN basketball class for 2025. The fab freshman says he's been getting acclimated this summer to the BYU program.
“It's a lot of lifting, a lot of shooting, a lot of working out,” Dybantsa added.
The BYU star is getting rave reviews from scouts and basketball writers.
“Dybantsa, once considered a lock at No. 1 before a somewhat disappointing high school senior season, had a stunning performance at the USA Basketball U19 training camp a few weeks ago,” Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo wrote for ESPN in June. “Looking as keen to create offense for others as we've seen in some time, Dybantsa was a devastating force in transition and locking down point guards through power forwards with a combination of physicality and intensity rarely seen from an 18-year-old.
He scored at will and made a plethora of high-level reads in the pick-and-roll, with pocket passes or lobs that illustrate significant improvement with his decision-making and unselfishness.”
The college basketball season starts up in the fall.
