Why did AJ Dybantsa go to BYU? How Cougars made unprecedented history by landing No. 1 recruit in country
It’s not often that BYU has the top freshman on its college basketball roster, but that was the case for the 2025–26 season with AJ Dybantsa.
The Cougars landed Dybantsa during the recruiting process, outlasting some of the sport’s most historic programs. BYU hasn’t typically attracted top basketball recruits, but the NIL landscape helped change that with Dybantsa.
Additionally, BYU’s decision to hire Kevin Young as head coach proved to be a major factor in Dybantsa’s recruitment. Here’s a breakdown of how BYU was able to secure him.
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Why did AJ Dybantsa commit to BYU?
When AJ Dybantsa committed to BYU, he credited head coach Kevin Young as a big reason why. Young spent almost a decade as an NBA assistant, working with players like Kevin Durant and Devin Boker, which Dybantsa said was a huge selling point.
“At BYU, the whole staff from the head coach on down came from the NBA,” Dybantsa said, via ESPN. “Head coach Kevin Young coached my favorite player in KD and coached Devin Booker. Both had a lot of good things to say about him. We watched clips of both.”
As Dybantsa’s overarching goal is to make the NBA, he felt Young’s experience in the pros would be best for the freshman’s development.
“Coach Young’s NBA background played a big factor in my decision,” Dybantsa said. “He came from the NBA. He coached NBA players. You cannot get any closer to where I want to be.”
Besides Young, BYU’s staff includes other assistants with NBA ties, further applying the NBA development potential. However, the biggest advantage that BYU had was that Dybantsa spent his high school junior year at Utah Prep in Hurricane, Utah.
MORE: Meet BYU head coach Kevin Young
AJ Dybantsa recruitment
Dybantsa was recruited by nearly every Power Five program, giving him the power of choice. In the end, BYU was reportedly a finalist alongside Kansas, North Carolina, and Alabama.
BYU, however, was aggressive in its recruitment throughout. ESPN reported in 2024 that head coach Kevin Young began pursuing Dybantsa immediately after being hired, even while finishing the 2023–24 NBA season as a Phoenix Suns assistant.
Leonard Armato, Dybantsa’s business advisor, told CBS Sports in 2024 that the interested schools all had similar money offers on the table.
“The money for every [school] was the same,” Armato said. “The decision wasn’t a money decision as much as it was a culture fit, a decision for the family, basketball, all those things that should be the determining factors. There was a certain money threshold, but once you got to that, it was about ‘how comfortable do I feel for me as a basketball player and my family.'”
MORE: Explaining AJ Dybantsa’s NIL money
AJ Dybantsa NIL contract with BYU
CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander reported in 2024 that Dybantsa’s asking price during his recruitment was around $5 million, which the school is paying through its NIL collective. That would make him the highest-paid player in college basketball, and potentially the highest-paid player in college basketball history.
However, Adam Zagoria reported that Dybantsa’s deal ended up around $7 million.
Highest-paid players in NCAA basketball
Here’s a look at the highest-paid players in college basketball this year, per On3’s database.
PlayerSchoolNIL valuationAJ DybantsaBYU$4.2 millionJT ToppinTexas Tech$2.8 millionCameron BoozerDuke$2.2 millionMorez JohnsonMichigan$2.0 millionJayden QuaintanceKentucky$2.0 millionYaxel LendeborgMichigan$2.0 million
According to this data, Dybantsa is by far the highest-paid player in the country, making a reported $4.2 million this year. No other player exceeds $3 million on the season, with JT Topping being the only other player above $2.5 million.
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AJ Dybantsa high school
While Dybantsa grew up in Boston, he attended three different high schools as a teenager. He started at Saint Sebastian’s School in Needham, Massachusetts, but transferred to Prolific Prep in Napa, California, after his freshman year.
Finally, Dybantsa transferred again, this time to Utah Prep in Hurricane, Utah, where he played the 2024–25 season. He would then reclassify, allowing him to attend BYU a year early.
