LAS VEGAS — The clock ticked down under two minutes. BYU’s lead was six, and the significant contingent of Cougars fans who had made the 5½-hour trip stood in unison. It was AJ Dybantsa’s time to shine.
Dybantsa was having a strong college debut, without question, ticking toward 20 points with solid efforts in the rebound and assist column. But when you’ve been touted the way Dybantsa has since early in his high school career, fans are always hunting more. BYU’s especially: They’ve never had (and may never have again) a talent don their uniform quite like Dybantsa. Some fans were already rocking Dybantsa jerseys and other gear with his name on it, a sign of the anticipation that this debut came with.
The wiry wing sized up his man (Villanova redshirt freshman Matthew Hodge), received the benefit of a hard screen from his center Keba Keita, and went to work. He probed patiently, felt the double team begin to collapse on him, then acrobatically spun from the right elbow to the left baseline and scooped in a bucket with the left hand.
The crowd predictably exploded, almost outshouting the P.A. announcer in the process. It was the star moment they had been waiting for and what functioned as a clinching bucket in a 71–66 No. 8 BYU win that was closer than the Cougars might have bargained for in the second half.
“Down the stretch, we put the ball in his hands and he made plays,” BYU coach Kevin Young said. “His first game, to have the poise to be able to do that, I thought was impressive.”
“[Young] was just telling me to keep attacking the rim because they didn’t want to foul [in the bonus],” Dybantsa said. “I just listened to that advice.”
BYU hasn’t had this level of buzz entering a season since Jimmer Mania was sweeping the nation 15 years ago. The top 10 preseason ranking, the prime-time showcase game to open the season, the dozens of NBA scouts tracking their every move … all that stems from Dybantsa’s presence (though senior Richie Saunders is a star in his own right). Dybantsa conceded in a postgame interview with Turner Sports’ Grant Hill that he sees “the rankings [and] the draft boards” everywhere; the impending battle between him, Kansas’s Darryn Peterson, Duke’s Cameron Boozer and perhaps others for the 2026 NBA draft’s No. 1 pick will hang over his every move this season.
That means over-scrutinizing just about everything. One reporter referred to his day in the postgame news conference as a “quiet” 21 points. That a 21-point, six-rebound, three-assist day can be considered quiet is an illustration of just how loud the hype that surrounds Dybantsa can be. Was it a perfect debut? Certainly not: Young pointed to a few wild drives in the first half that he nudged Dybantsa about at the break; his star responded by playing more under control when going to the rim in the second. He took just one three, a skill scouts will be keen to keep an eye on after a tough shooting performance at the U19 World Cup this summer. He left points at the line, shooting just 2 for 7 on free throws.
But that we are capable of in any way minimizing Dybantsa’s debut (in a high-level game against a quality opponent, a rarity for most high-major teams these days) in some way illustrates his brilliance more than any acrobatic finish, hand-in-face three or clutch three-point play. He’s the guy Villanova coach Kevin Willard called “one of the best high school players I’ve seen come out in a long time.” One NBA scout Sports Illustrated spoke to before the season went further, saying that at his best, Dybantsa was “probably the best high school player” he had ever evaluated.
And so the flashes like the one that delivered the finishing blow to a plucky underdog Villanova squad are expected at times to be more than just flashes. It makes it easy to forget it was Dybantsa’s first game under the bright lights that are college basketball. BYU played two high-profile exhibitions (at Nebraska and in Salt Lake City vs. North Carolina) that Dybantsa had shined in, but Dybantsa said it was “definitely different” this time. After two likely wins at home, Dybantsa will get UConn near his hometown of Brockton, Mass., in Boston; Wisconsin in Salt Lake City; and later a trip to Madison Square Garden as part of the Jimmy V Classic in early December. The tests will be early and often, the NBA eyeballs constant and plentiful.
That’s all part of what became an inevitability for Dybantsa from the moment his stock truly exploded in 2023, one that has only been magnified by his unconventional choice to spend his lone year of college at BYU instead of a traditional blueblood. One source familiar with the Dybantsa family said last year that beyond BYU’s huge financial offer, Dybantsa liked the idea of being the star for a school, not simply just another five-star in a long list of future pros. He got that (with a massive fan base already in love with him) at BYU.
Will his tenure live up to the extraordinary expectations? Only time will tell. But Dybantsa showed enough in his collegiate opening act to prove why his star has grown to these extremes … and why he’s more than talented enough to prove all the fawning praise right in time.
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