‘He’s going to BYU,’ former D-1 head coach on top recruit AJ Dybantsa

By ADAM ZAGORIA

Josh Pastner says he knows where top-ranked high school basketball recruit AJ Dybantsa is going.

“He’s gonna go to BYU. It would be a shock if he did not go to BYU,” Pastner said on ESPN of the 6-foot-9 Dybansta.

The former Georgia Tech and Memphis head coach isn’t alone in his thinking. There is a growing belief in recruiting circles that Dybantsa, the projected No. 1 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, will land at BYU.

One industry source said Dybantsa is commanding in the neighborhood of $4 million in NIL money. He also has an NIL deal with Red Bull.

"He's gonna go to BYU. It would be a shock if he did not go to BYU" Josh Pastner on AJ Dybansta pic.twitter.com/vjjB0NTsbh

— Church Ball: A BYU Hoops Pod (@churchballpod) November 22, 2024

Dybantsa, the Brockton, Mass. native who now stars at Utah Prep, visited BYU in October and drew comparisons from head coach Kevin Young to Kevin Durant and Devin Booker.

“A guy like you or Kevin or Book,” Young told Dybantsa.

Some video of No. 1 prospect @ADybantsa on his @BYUMBB visit https://t.co/OBRegcWdLh pic.twitter.com/aal2ZLpjTn

— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) October 12, 2024

Ace Dybantsa, AJ’s father, came away impressed with the visit.

“It’s everything run like an NBA program over there,” he said.

Dybantsa has an official list of seven schools — Alabama, Auburn, Baylor, BYU, Kansas, Kansas State and North Carolina — and his father told ZAGSBLOG AJ is expected to announce in February.

“I haven’t had a bad visit, kudos to all the schools, they show me their best,” he said in October on the Youngins podcast. “It’s going to be a hard decision.”

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