Stephen A. Smith believes that AJ Dybantsa is still deserving to be selected first overall in the 2026 NBA Draft despite his failure to lead BYU past the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The analyst asserts that the young hooper's inherent qualities as a player and the upside he offers are hard to pass up.
Dybantsa and the Cougars , who were the sixth seeds in the West Region, were upset by the 11th-seeded and first-four entrant Texas Longhorns, 79-71, in their first-round matchup on Thursday in Portland, Oregon.
Some experts suggested that Dybantsa's standing as a "lock" for the top overall pick took a hit with their early exit, while others in the running for the No. 1 selection are still competing in March Madness and making their cases.
On ESPN's "First Take," Smith shared that while he really never considered Dybantsa as a lock for the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft, with fellow freshman sensations Darryn Peterson (Kansas), Darius Acuff Jr. (Arkansas), Kingston Flemings (Houston) and Caleb Wilson (North Carolina) also making waves, teams should still select the BYU star ahead of everybody else.
"Well, let me say this. Um, he's not a lock. But I think he should be [No. 1] because, let me tell you something, I can't teach 6'8, 6'9" with that kind of athleticism, with that wingspan, with that ball handling ability, that scoring ability. I can't teach that," Smith said .
"That's just me … To me, nobody's a lock. I get it because the talent is too steep and you never know what the team's needs are, etc. But I would tell you this, Stephen A. Smith would draft AJ Dybantsa number one overall," he added.
While they bowed to Texas, Dybantsa actually had a solid game for the Cougars and did everything in his power to drag his team to the win, but they simply did not have enough.
The 19-year-old hooper finished with a double-double of 35 points and 10 rebounds, although he struggled with his shots, going 11-of-25 from the field and 1-of-7 from three.
His total scoring output was just a point shy of matching what the rest of the team had. Only guard Robert Wright III finished in double-figure scoring with 14, shooting 7-of-17 from the field.
It really made it hard for the Cougars to keep up with the Longhorns, who had four players in double digits, led by Matas Vokietaitis, who had 23 points and 16 rebounds.
The early NCAA Tournament exit was a tough end for what was a challenging year for BYU. Bannered by Dybantsa, the team started strong, winning 16 of their first 17 games. Injuries then started to creep up and took their toll on their push, sending them to a 5-9 record in their next 14 games to finish the regular season with a 21-10 record, 9-9 in the Big 12.
Smith lamented that Dybantsa, who led the nation in scoring with 25.3 points on 51.3 percent shooting from the field, had to do so much of the heavy lifting in what potentially could be his lone collegiate season and never had solid support to win more games.
"I was never excited about him going to BYU. Not even a little bit. I was never excited about that. [With all the injuries] Talk about a cat that had to carry the load, it was definitely him… Dybantsa had to deal with it all year. I don't know why the hell he went to BYU personally. It should have been somewhere else," the fiery analyst said.
It will be interesting to see how his early exit in the NCAA Tournament affects Dybantsa's stock in this year's NBA Draft. However, the good thing for him is that he provided a solid body of work for teams to hold on to and consider.
This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Mar 21, 2026, where it first appeared in the Latest News section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
