By MATT WHITFIELD
COLORADO SPRINGS, Col. — Utah Prep shocked some in the basketball word when AJ Dybantsa announced last month he would be transferring there. One of the biggest benefactors and supporters of the move happens to be his Team USA U17 and Utah Prep teammate JJ Mandaquit.
“Amazing,” responded Mandaquit on Dybantsa transferring to Utah Prep. “[I’m] excited. I’m just excited to get going and win some games.”
The 6-foot-9 Dybantsa, who was voted the MVP by On3 of the USA Basketball U17 Training Camp, had similar feelings.
“It’s going to be great,” he said. “[JJ] is a natural point guard. He’s going to run the team. He’s going to setup the team up well.”
The 6-1, 195-pound Mandaquit has now made the Team USA U16 team, which won gold last summer in Mexico, and the Team USA U17 team, which will play in the 2024 FIBA World Cup in Istanbul, Turkey, set to take place June 29-July 7.
Recruiting-wise Mandaquit is taking his time and is hearing from a lot of the same schools.
“Right now, I would probably say Stanford, Creighton, LSU, Louisville, BYU,” he said. “I’d say those are the main ones right now.”
Mandaquit has taken two officials already, one to Washington State with the old coach staffing and another to the University of Hawaii.
For now, Mandaquit is laser-focused on winning a gold in Turkey. Come fall, however, Utah Prep basketball will be most one of the most watched and talked about high school teams in the nation.
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