AJ Dybantsa, nation's top prospect, commits to BYU Cougars

Utah Prep School Five-Star Plus+ small forward AJ Dybantsa, the nation’s No. 1 prospect in the 2025 class, is heading to BYU.

The consensus top recruit in his recruiting cycle, Dybantsa chose the Cougars over Alabama, Auburn, Baylor, Kansas, Kansas State and North Carolina.

Dybantsa took his official visit to Provo on Oct. 11. Back in June, he broke down a prior unofficial visit to BYU.

“My visit there was good,” Dybantsa said in June. “Kevin Young was an NBA coach, so he is telling me that he will bring a lot of NBA styles and concepts to the program. He told me that he thought he would be a good coach to help me get to that next level.

“It’s good that he has NBA experience. I mean, I’m trying to get to the NBA, so anyone that has NBA experience or anyone that has brought people to the NBA or coached in the NBA is going to have knowledge for that. The campus there was nice. It is only like three hours away from where Utah Prep is…”

The 6-foot-9, 200-pound forward was initially a member of the 2025 class before moving down to 2026 his eighth-grade year. In October 2023, Dybantsa returned to the class of 2025.

“This is my original class, I just wasn’t ready to play with these guys yet, and then once I grew into my body and once I got a strength coach, I was like ‘I’m ready to go back up,’” Dybantsa said in October on the ‘Podcast P with Paul George’ show.

He was the No. 1 player in the class of 2026 and stayed at No. 1 upon reclassifying to 2025.

“AJ Dybantsa is a smooth, offensively gifted player. His natural skill and ability. Even from my first viewing of him in middle school, Dybantsa had a unique offensive feel. At a young age, his ability to dissect and make a read within the flow of the play was impressive,” On3’s Jamie Shaw wrote upon his reclassification.