By MATT WHITFIELD
DENVER — A.J. Dybantsa made headlines this summer when he transferred to the West Coast to national powerhouse Prolific Prep (CA). Then in October, he reclassified to the Class of 2025, making him eligible for 2026 NBA Draft.
Now settled at Prolific Prep, the 6-foot-8 Brockton, Mass., native is just focused on books and basketball while his dad Ace Dybantsa handles his future.
Dybantsa picked up an offer from Kentucky on Tuesday that is his most prestigious offer yet.
“My dad handles my recruitment. I just focus on books and ball,” A.J. said Saturday night when he went for 32 points on 9-of-14 shooting, 9 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals in a win over Dream City Christian (AZ).
A.J. took an official visit to USC last month.
“It was good,” he said. “They impressed.”
He and his dad are also eyeing a visit to Auburn next spring. “We probably are going to go to Auburn next year, probably in March,” said Ace. “We don’t have enough time because we’re going to be playing pretty much every weekend till April. And then EYBL kicks in, so were going to be busy till probably May or June. Then we will pick up the visits sometime in the fall.” One school they hope to visit next fall is Baylor, the 2021 NCAA champion coached by Scott Drew. The Bears have been in regular contact with Dybantsa. No other official visits are planned currently. And as Ace said, “we’re still waiting for offers.”Class of 25 5-star @ADybantsa of @ProlificPrep on his @USC_Hoops official pic.twitter.com/4Wn4GQxdiP
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) October 23, 2023
While Kentucky has now offered, blue bloods Duke and Kansas have yet to offer. “[Duke], they’re interested. We are waiting for their offer, then we’ll go from there,” said Ace. Alabama and North Carolina are two other schools in regular contact with Dybantsa, who now holds 17 offers. Dybantsa did not have a dream school growing up. And according to his dad, there is no geographical preference on where A.J. goes to college. For now, AJ is one of, if not the most highly regarded high school basketball player, enjoying life while working out with this summer with LeBron James and Kevin Durant. “That was good,” A.J. said. “I got a lot of tips from them. I think it helped improve my game. And I took some [tips] and added it to my game.” *** AJ Dybantsa and @ProlificPrep will meet the Boozer twins and @ColumbusHS_Mia on Wednesday at 6 ET on ESPNU Follow Matt on Twitter Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter Follow ZAGSBLOGHoops on Instagram And Like ZAGS on FacebookAJ Dybantsa had the full bag on display last night! ESPN #1 in the 2025 class 👀 @ADybantsa @ProlificPrep @thegrindsession pic.twitter.com/koWIoHmnT2
— Courtside Films (@CourtsideFilms) November 18, 2023
