Kentucky basketball coach Mark Pope offers top recruit AJ Dybantsa

Kentucky basketball coach Mark Pope offers top 2025 recruit AJ Dybantsa.

The new Kentucky basketball coaching staff recently reached out to top overall 2025 recruit AJ Dybantsa, letting him know they were interested. Now, Mark Pope has officially made an offer for him to be a Wildcat in 2025.

Dybantsa is the number one player overall in most recruiting rankings. The five-star small forward had originally been offered by former Wildcats coach John Calipari. Now, Pope has let him know he still wants him in Lexington.

Related: Kentucky basketball recruiting tracker for 2025

Universally ranked five stars, Dybantsa started out as a class of 2026 player, but reclassified to the 2025 class. He has offers from just about every top program in the country, but did tell Kentucky Sports Radio that he spoke to Pope.

He called my dad, I hopped on the phone with them and we had a little chat. When we hopped on the call, I received the offer. I had (John) Calipari first, and now, I’ve been re-offered by Pope.

Dybantsa also said he would be taking a visit to Kentucky in the fall, giving Pope and company a chance to sell him on being a Wildcat. Landing him would be an impressive start to the new staff’s first real recruiting class.