The nation’s No. 1 basketball recruit made his decision on Tuesday. Five-star forward AJ Dybasnta, who is widely considered a generational prospect, committed to play his basketball at BYU next season.
The 17-year-old chose to stay in Utah, where he plays his high school basketball, over Alabama, Kansas, and North Carolina. Auburn was among his final seven preferred destinations but missed the cut into his final four. The likely top 5 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft officially announced his decision on ESPN morning show ‘First Take’, where he unveiled a BYU shirt under his jacket after thanking “God for putting me in this position”.
While there was little-to-no chance the 6-foot-9 forward would shockingly commit to the Tigers, his official commitment to BYU still carries a shred of disappointment for an Auburn program set to lose most of its front court players after this season. With Dybansta off the market, Auburn will now look for other recruits to join the current trio of 2025 four-star commits in Sebastian Williams-Adams, Kaden Magwood, and Simon Walker. Williams-Adams is the lone front court prospect in Bruce Pearl’s 2025 class.
As for BYU, the Cougars have seemingly re-loaded after losing head coach Mark Pope to Kentucky and a plethora of players to the transfer portal last season. Along with Dybantsa, BYU has signed top 25 prospect Xavion Staton along with four-star power forward Chamberlain Burgess.
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