AJ Dybantsa, the No. 1 player in the 2025 ESPN 100 for the freshman college class, has been on NBA radars for years. The 6-foot-9, 210-pound wing was a highly decorated high school performer, and his combination of measurements, athleticism, and skill have always had him destined for stardom. None of that has changed with Dybantsa having an all-world freshman season with BYU.
Dybantsa could have gone to any school in the country, but he chose to head to Provo. That might seem a little crazy to most, but BYU head coach Kevin Young is an offensive mastermind with high-level NBA coaching experience. It also doesn’t hurt that the Cougars seem to have an endless supply when it comes to NIL money.
With one half of the 2025-26 college basketball season in the books, it’s clear that the Dybantsa-BYU marriage is perfect. Dybantsa is thriving as a scorer, he’s impacting games as a rebounder, his playmaking has been on display with him being surrounded by shooters, and his defense has come a long way since the start of the year. Next for the Cougars will be looking to finish strong, competing for a Big 12 regular-season title, a conference championship, and then the ultimate glory of winning the NCAA Tournament. However, for Dybantsa’s long-term pro prospects, he’ll be looking to keep doing what he’s doing in order to potentially inch out — and stay out — ahead of Darryn Peterson and Cameron Boozer when thinking about the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.
You’ll see a lot of valid reasons Peterson and Boozer are worthy of consideration for the top-overall pick — and you might even see them here. Peterson is one of the most gifted on-ball prospects to enter the draft in quite some time, and Boozer is a skilled power forward with an unteachable feel for the game. However, there’s a real chance that any general manager that passes on Dybantsa will end up in hot water somewhere down the road.
In 2017, Michael Jordan infamously said that North Carolina’s “ceiling is the roof.” That has since been one of the most popular phrases in sports. Well, Dybantsa’s ceiling is undoubtedly the roof. He has the potential to be a Tier 1 superstar at the next level. However, what sets him apart from other players is that his floor is also outrageously high. It’s not quite at the roof, but it might be up at the ceiling fan.
As a scorer, Dybantsa knows how to leverage his size and tools to attack the basket, where he’s a good finisher. He’s also highly advanced when it comes to drawing fouls. He’s already had a ton of games in which he has finished with double-digit free throw attempts, and that won’t go anywhere in the NBA — where it’s arguably easier to bait officials into calling fouls. Dybantsa also loves going over his right shoulder for turnaround mid-range jumpers, and he even has detractors that call him a “fadeaway merchant.” However, while a ton of people like to highlight his negatives, you’re simply not watching enough if you can’t see the positives.
Dybantsa does have a little work to do as a shooter, but he’s far from unreliable from the outside. That’s just one of the last pieces of the puzzle when talking about him becoming a five-tool player on offense. While he’s not yet a consistent knockdown guy, he’s unstoppable attacking downhill, he has a good in-between game, and he’s extremely unselfish.
Dybantsa’s defense has also come a very long way in a very short period of time. Early in the season, people got on Dybantsa for his lack of steals and blocks, and many wanted to paint him as a one-way performer that would one day be a liability on this end of the floor. Since then, Dybantsa has done a much better job of impacting games, and he has actually been filling up the stat sheet when it comes to “stocks.” Dybantsa has also shown that he can move his feet with some quicker players. That’s big for a player with his size. There’s a good chance he’ll be a productive defender, capable of guarding multiple spots. And if he continues to be as coachable as he has been early in his freshman season, there’s a chance he ends up being way closer to a high-level defender than a bad one.
There’s been some talk of Dybantsa being a more athletic Julius Randle, and there seems to be a negative tone attached to that. However, if that’s one of the lower-range outcomes for him, he’d easily live up to No. 1 pick status. Randle is a three-time All-Star and a nightly double-double threat. A more fluid version of him, with a little more defensive upside, could be a special player. Then there’s the higher-range outcome, with Dybantsa turning into something like a jumbo-sized Jaylen Brown.
Dybantsa just looks like an NBA star playing with college kids right now. And you can nitpick some things here and there, but he’ll still look like an NBA star when playing with other NBA players. You don’t often see prospects with NBA-ready bodies, three-level scoring ability, and a willingness to work hard to improve. That’s why it’ll be hard to pass on this teenager with the top pick. There will be situations in which Peterson and Boozer could make more sense, but you better be damn sure of that. Dybantsa is a rare can’t-miss talent.