By SAM LANCE
The expected list cut from 2025’s No. 1 overall prospect A.J. Dybantsa is here. The 6-foot-9, 200-pound wing out of Utah Prep and the Oakland Soldiers Nike EYBL program has a top seven set of Alabama, Auburn, Baylor, BYU, Kansas, Kansas State and North Carolina, his father confirmed to ZAGSBLOG.
Paul Biancardi of ESPN was first to report. Dybantsa will visit all of his finalists before his decision in February, per Biancardi.
Dybantsa gave thoughts on some of these programs at Peach Jam:
Alabama: “I’ve known Preston [Murphy], he used to coach me at EYBL. He used to be my Expressions coach my freshman year playing 17s. I know about him, I don’t know a lot about the school. I talked to Nate Oats when I got the offer. They had a good run [last year]. I mean, two of my teammates from Prolific went there so they obviously think it’s good, so we’ll see.”
Auburn: “[Bruce Pearl] was here this weekend. I saw him in Istanbul. I went on a visit, it was just more of the same talk about what he has in store for me and what he thinks I can be.”
Baylor: “I talked to Scott [Drew], and I talked to [John] Jakus before he left. But I talked to Scott at Prolific, like they came to like when you have the little runs and you can like offer people. Yeah, he came and just talked to me.”
BYU: “I mean it’s three hours away from Utah Prep so I mean that’s kinda far, but I mean it was good. Seeing the campus, I just seen like the overall view, seeing the gyms and everything.”
On the BYU unofficial: “It was good, that’s when I took my Utah Prep visit. Since I was up there I just took an unofficial over there. Coach [Kevin Young] said hopefully he can get me back on an official to take me thru the whole, like, visit profile and what he has in store for me.”
Dybantsa has previously said his father handles most of the recruiting and talks to coaches. On his official visits, Dybantsa will have a chance to speak with coaches face-to-face.
Dybantsa is projected the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 class and would be a huge grab for any college program. At Peach Jam, the wing averaged 23.1 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game to lead the Soldiers to the championship game. They fell short to Nightrydas Elite, 71-62.
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