About five hours after BYU’s Kevin Young announced the signing of the highest-rated basketball recruit in the country, 6-foot-9 wing AJ Dybantsa, the first-year coach participated in a conference call with reporters to discuss what is being called one of the most impactful days in BYU sports history.
“It was exciting, obviously,” Young said of the moment a couple of weeks ago when the Massachusetts native, who is currently living in Hurricane, Utah, and playing for Utah Prep, delivered the commitment.
“There was a lot of work that went into it. Different timelines. We weren’t sure how things were going to go. We were trying to be very respectful of how they wanted to operate, and how they wanted to approach things,” Young continued. “We all kinda felt good where things were heading, and we were able to get it done, and so it was excitement. It was excitement for us and for AJ as well.”
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Shortly after Dybantsa made the commitment official on ESPN’s “First Take” show Tuesday morning, BYU confirmed that the five-star prospect had actually signed during last month’s early signing period, which ended on Nov. 20.
“Dybantsa becomes the highest-rated recruit and first-ever five-star high school recruit to sign with the Cougars as he is rated as the top recruit in the country according to all recruiting services,” read a BYU news release, which could have only been issued, per NCAA rules, if the school had Dybantsa’s signed financial aid agreement in hand.
Young was asked if reports surfacing on social media about Dybantsa’s NIL deal were accurate. Young repeated what he told the Deseret News in Kansas City at the Big 12 basketball media days, which is that he does not pay attention to any NIL reporting and generally doesn’t believe the figures tossed about are accurate.
“I am not sure what is out there with different reporting and whatnot,” he said Tuesday. “The only thing I will say on the NIL, I mean, (Dybantsa’s family) made it pretty clear that all the finalists were kinda operating within the same structure and same scenarios. And that was pretty obvious as we got serious about things in that space.
“I don’t have all the gory details of what everybody was doing, but in dealing with the family and their people it was pretty obvious that every school was essentially coming with the same thing,” Young said.
Dybantsa’s other finalists were North Carolina, Kansas and Alabama.
BYU’s aggressive recruitment of the prep superstar was possible from the start by Young’s NBA pedigree. Other pieces then came together, including repeated visits to BYU. BYU’s official NIL collective, The Royal Blue, posted a statement on X shortly after the announcement on ESPN saying it was “glad to play a role in AJ’s NIL deal while he’s with the program.”
Said Young, who was able to recruit top prospects Kanon Catchings and Egor Demin of Russia to this year’s team: “I don’t think I have ran from any type of expectations since I have gotten here. We want to be great. We want to get great players. We want to compete for championships. That’s why you coach. That’s why you compete. … I wanted us to do that regardless. We are just trying to put ourselves in position to compete with the best programs in the country on the recruiting trail as well as in actual games, and in the (NCAA) Tournament.”
Doubling down on Dybantsa
Young said he began recruiting Dybantsa just a few days after replacing Kentucky-bound Mark Pope in April. He was still working for the Phoenix Suns in the NBA playoffs when he got word that Utah Prep was trying to lure Dybantsa to its national power in Hurricane and was taking him on a tour of BYU “as a way to show off the state (of Utah).”
He decided he had to be there, so he “sprinted out of (Suns) practice as soon as it was over, jumped in an Uber, hopped on a plane and flew to Provo,” he said. “I did all that (meeting with the family in Provo), flew back, and got to Minnesota at 3 in the morning ready to roll back and continue our playoff series.”
After that initial visit with the family, Young said he didn’t really get a chance to “dig in” to Dybantsa’s recruitment until the prospect had narrowed his list of finalists and the list included BYU. Prior to that, his conversations were mostly with Dybantsa’s father, Ace.
“AJ is a real fun young man to talk to, especially for as touted as he is. He’s got a great head on his shoulders. He is very intelligent. Just mature beyond his years.
— Kevin Young on AJ Dybansta
“AJ is a real fun young man to talk to, especially for as touted as he is. He’s got a great head on his shoulders. He is very intelligent. Just mature beyond his years. I don’t feel like I am talking to a young high school player,” Young said. “Yeah, man, just a lot of positivity. The (BYU) staff did a tremendous job as well.”
Young said there was not one solitary thing that persuaded Dybantsa that BYU — not exactly relevant nationally in college basketball as the other finalists — was the place for him.
“What I am learning in recruiting is everything adds up, everything matters,” Young said. “There is no real singular event. Everything has an impact.”
Young said he leaned heavily into his NBA experience — and the NBA experience of his coaching and support staff — when he talked to the family because it was clear that Dybantsa wanted that type of model for his only year of college basketball. The coach said there was never a moment that they were 100% certain they were getting the phenom.
“I am not really that type of guy. I got to get things to the finish line before I get too excited about anything,” he said. “Just try to stay the course and build the relationship and show them who we are from a genuine relationship standpoint. … We try not to get too high, get too low, and continue to build up that trust and that relationship. Honestly it wasn’t until AJ himself called me and told me he was coming that I was breathing a little easier.”
What kind of basketball player is BYU getting?
Dybantsa said on “First Take” that he is a combination of former NBA star Tracy McGrady and current NBA star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Young said he can “definitely see those guys” in the way Dybantsa plays, and much more.
“I think parts of his game resemble a lot of the great players. Defensively, he reminds me of Paul George, who I have gone up against in playoff battles, seen him up close,” Young said. “Some of the passing is Lebron-like, similar to Egor (Demin).
“He is a mix of a lot of different guys, but I like his confidence where he goes out there and tries to be himself. He is not trying to be anybody else,” Young continued. “But the thing I love most about his game is he really does try to play the game the right way.
“For a guy who is as highly touted as he is, there were times I would go to his games and would want him to be even more aggressive than he is, looking to score more. He really does try to play the game the right way, and most of the great players I have been around, that is the commonality amongst all those players.”
Young said he won’t fully know Dybantsa’s strengths and weaknesses until he gets to coach him on a daily basis, but will help him find areas where he can differentiate himself and make him the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NBA draft, which is the goal.
“Right out of the gate, I will challenge his ability to guard the other team’s best player. I think he has got the capability to be a lockdown defender. And if he wants to be a great NBA player, that is something he is going to have to take great pride in that can really separate himself,” Young said. “And then just the decision-making. I think any time you take a step up, even as talented as he is, the game is a lot faster, the game is a lot more physical.
“People are going to be going at his head, no question, and so just try to spend time with him and show him what some of the layers look like as it relates to him making decisions with the ball in his hands and things of that nature.”
