AJ Dybantsa is one of the biggest attractions of the 2025-26 NCAA season. The BYU Cougars’ five-star recruit is considered the No.1 prospect of his class, but he’s already receiving warnings about what challenges college basketball might present him.
Dybantsa won’t play for the strongest program in the country, but he has already set high expectations for his team: the national championship. He may be gone after one season in college, but he wants to leave a strong mark on the program.
Coming off a gold medal in the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup, he’s eager to add more silverware to his cabinet, but Dybantsa must learn and evolve before challenging for the championship and entering the NBA draft.
College basketball analyst shares concern about AJ Dybantsa
NCAA analyst Jeff Goodman is high on Dybantsa, but he still has one concern about the forward’s character. Goodman praised Dybantsa’s offense on “Field of 68,” but also wondered how he would respond when things weren’t going his way.
“As much as we talk about his offense,” Goodman said. “He can get to the basket when he wants, and he could dominate a game defensively if he puts his mind to it. His upside is higher than anybody else in the country. The question is how will he deal with some adversity? He’s going to have some two-for-12 games. Can he impact the game in other ways when that happens? Can he grab 10 rebounds? Can he dish out six or seven assists?”
To become a complete player, prospects need to find different ways to impact games. Considering that he’s the best option on the Cougars, there will be nights when Dybantsa will have to adapt to the circumstances and try to help his team by doing different stuff than scoring.