AJ’s aura: The ‘most unselfish superstar,’ AJ Dybantsa lifts BYU by buying in like he always has

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AJ’s aura: The ‘most unselfish superstar,’ AJ Dybantsa lifts BYU by buying in like he always has

BYU forward AJ Dybantsa (3) slaps hands with his teammates as his name is announced with the rest of the Cougars' starting lineup before an NCAA men's basketball game against Holy Cross held at the Marriott Center in Provo on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News

Tad Walch · Deseret News

Thu, Nov 27, 2025 ·

32 min read

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Ace Dybantsa was born and raised in the Republic of Congo, where he spoke three languages. Chelsea Hudson grew up with her grandmother in Hanover, Jamaica, steeped in a dialect called Jamaican Patois.

They bravely left their homelands as 13-year-olds for new countries. Ace moved to France and Chelsea to the United States. They eventually met in the parking lot of a gym in Massachusetts.

Together, the Dybantsas raised a son so fluent in the social media age that he now fronts global brands like Nike, Red Bull and Fanatics as an 18-year-old.

AJ Dybantsa is a thoroughly modern American influencer — an itinerant teenage millionaire basketball star always in search of the next best opportunity to develop his game.

It's enough, UConn head coach Danny Hurley said recently, to entitle a young man in ways that hurt the player and his teams.

That hasn't happened to Dybantsa, Hurley was happy to report, after watching him nearly lead BYU back from a 20-point deficit to UConn in a nationally televised contest the Huskies won, 86-84.

AJ was born with his big, engaging personality, Chelsea says. His parents provided him with guardrails for navigating a celebrity's life without succumbing to its temptations.

Better yet for the No. 9 Cougars, the Dybantsas helped their son develop the kind of character that made him capable of adapting to every school and buying in on every team on his journey toward the NBA. Whenever he is home, his name goes back up on the family chore chart.

This is the story of a young man cynics said didn't belong at BYU. Several months into the AJ Experiment in Provo, Utah, he has shown that he does. He's thriving — a strong fit, observers say — and so are the Cougars as they play Miami on Thanksgiving in the ESPN Events Invitational in Kissimmee, Florida.

What follows illustrates why the marriage of a megastar to a conservative university is working so well and how Kevin Young is developing Dybantsa and creatively leveraging his talents in BYU's offense.

Education is more important than basketball

Education is the engine that drives the Dybantsa family. It powerfully animates Ace and Chelsea's parenting.

1121bkccougars.spt_KM_8275.JPG — BYU Cougars forward AJ Dybantsa and his father, Ace Dybantsa, walk through the Delta Center after BYU played Wisconsin in a men's basketball game in Salt Lake City on Friday, Nov. 21, 2025. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News

Born in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, Ace was raised on education and respect by Joachim and Emilie Dybantsa.

"You've got to respect your elders or else," Ace said he was taught. "My dad did not mess around."

Joachim sent Ace to France when he was 13 to live with an older brother to get a better education. Ace arrived in Boston eight years later, on Jan. 19, 1989, when he had to learn English as a fourth language. He covered the cost of his higher education by earning a soccer scholarship at Massasoit Community College, where he earned All-New England honors as a goalie.

Chelsea Dybantsa left her grandmother in Jamaica to move to Boston a few years after Ace. She was 13, too, when she reached America.

It was a horrible move, she says. She missed her grandmother, Iverine Hudson. She experienced culture shock, hated the cold and suffered terrible teasing from boys, one of whom later admitted it was because they liked her.

But she stuck with school.

"My grandmother taught me that's the one thing no one can take away from you," Chelsea says. "We instill that in our kids. We ensure our kids take school very seriously."

Chelsea graduated from Salem State College with a bachelor's degree in social work. She now manages a department for a physician organization.

"Education is more important than basketball," Ace says.

AJ Dybanta Profile_HO_000004.JPG — St. Sebastian's School's basketball coach Dave Hinman talks with AJ Dybantsa Dec. 16, 2021, in Needham, Mass. | Chris Dehney, St. Sebastian

In fact, AJ's first high school basketball coach, Dave Hinman, said Ace came to him looking for help when his son was younger.

"Can you talk to my son and tell him to make sure he goes to four years of college?" Ace said to Hinman.

That sentiment is quaint now. AJ will be a one-and-done college basketball player. He will play this season, declare himself eligible for the NBA draft and be a lottery pick, one of the first players selected.

Ace has long since embraced his son's career arc. Hinman, after all, pointed out that Steph Curry earned his degree from Davidson well into a rich and successful pro career.

2 stories that illustrate Dybantsa discipline

AJ Dybanta Profile_HO_000006.JPG — AJ Dybantsa slams the ball at TD Garden in Boston, Mass., Jan. 21, 2023. | Chris Dehney, St. Sebastian

Hinman first met AJ when his son played on the same youth team with him in the third or fourth grade.

"AJ was very good," the coach says, "but you didn't know he was going to become who he is today."

Hinman and the rest of the staff at St. Sebastian's all-boys Catholic school in Needham, Massachusetts, still didn't foresee AJ's future when they recruited him to play for the private school and he walked onto the court for the first time.

"AJ and I were talking about tryouts," said Brendan Sullivan, who was the dean of students then and now is St. Seb's headmaster. "So I thought I'd go check it out a little bit."

Sullivan expected to see AJ, at 6-foot-5 already one of the tallest kids in the school, down in the low post. Instead, the eighth grader was bringing the ball up as the point guard and dominating.

"This is different," Sullivan thought. "This is different."

Ace had one message for Hinman when he turned his son over to him: You're the coach. I'm the dad.

AJ Dybanta Profile_HO_000003.JPG — St. Sebastian's School's AJ Dybantsa plays Dec. 16, 2021, in Needham, Mass. | Chris Dehney, St. Sebastian

"I will stay out of your way," Ace said. "Your job is to coach my son. I expect you to teach him both on the court and off the court."

AJ tested his parents and Hinman a few times. Their response leads him to describe his parents as strict. That's not the word they use.

"It's not about being strict," Chelsea says. "It's about discipline. We know the way we were raised by our parents and grandparents. It was no-nonsense parenting. You don't talk back. You don't disrespect. You do as you're told. Discipline makes you a better person when you enter the adult world."

She says they are Christian values. Her grandmother raised her on the Bible. Ace is a lifelong Catholic. AJ was baptized as a baby. Mom and Dad continue to encourage faith and prayer to AJ and his sisters — Samarra is a student at the University of Massachusetts-Boston and Jasmyn is a volleyball player at Lone Peak High School in Highland, Utah.

One oft-told example of Dybantsa discipline is the time Ace drove AJ six hours to a game for a team outside of school only to tell his son he couldn't play because he had gotten a C- in a class. AJ has been an honor roll student ever since.

Hinman has a similar story. In the ninth grade, St. Sebastian's scheduled a big preseason scrimmage event with three other teams, and everyone wanted to see AJ play. Ace texted Hinman that morning to say AJ wouldn't be playing. The coach called to make sure AJ was OK.

"Yeah," Ace said, "everything's OK, but AJ wasn't supposed to go on social media and I took his phone away. Then he found another way to go on social media, so I'm going to take away what means the most to him, and that's playing basketball."

Hinman said that as an educator, he supported the discipline, but he asked Ace if he could tell people why AJ was missing.

1121bkccougars.spt_KM_8130.JPG — BYU Cougars forward AJ Dybantsa and his father, Ace Dybantsa, walk through the Delta Center after BYU played Wisconsin in a men's basketball game in Salt Lake City on Friday, Nov. 21, 2025. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News

"Oh, sure, please," Ace said. "Please tell them."

Hinman says Ace kept his word. He never complained about how many shots AJ was getting or the offense the team ran. The dad did challenge Hinman once after AJ put his head down and sulked after a referee made a call he didn't like.

"The next day," Hinman says, "Ace came to me and said, 'We had an agreement that I wouldn't come to you and tell you how to do things, but you would make sure you dealt with my son the right way, and he should have been benched for that game.'"

Hinman agreed, but he was stunned.

"How many parents come to you and say, 'You need to bench my son?'" he says.

The dangers of basketball entitlement

1121bkccougars.spt_KM_3454.JPG — BYU Cougars forward AJ Dybantsa (3) plays Wisconsin in a men's basketball game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Friday, Nov. 21, 2025. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News

Hurley, the UConn coach, said the fruits of Dybantsa discipline are plain on the court. He saw it on the film he watched of AJ's first few college outings when he scouted him prior to the BYU-UConn game in Boston on Nov. 15.

Hurley has watched future high NBA draft picks join the college game for decades.

"You can see on film the entitlement, the spoiled entitlement, the not guarding, the not being about team," said a coach who has won two of the past three NCAA championships.

What Hurley saw on film in BYU's first preseason game was AJ leaking out a few times, leaving his defensive assignment a bit early to start a fast break rather than maintain position for a rebound.

1108bkccougars.spt_IH_3986.jpg — BYU forward AJ Dybantsa (3) dunks the ball against Holy Cross during an NCAA men's basketball game held at the Marriott Center in Provo on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News

"But then I'm watching the evolution from game to game to tonight," Hurley said in the postgame press conference. "I mean, this guy's out there guarding. You know, he's on the backboard. He's communicating with his teammates, and he's playing with a level of desperation to win the game."

AJ scored just 4 points in the first half in his Boston homecoming, but then he led a furious BYU comeback by pouring in 21 points over the final 15 minutes.

"You know," Hurley said, "for a guy that's going to be maybe the No. 1 pick, it's just like a little refreshing to see the guy and the mental toughness. I mean, his first half was a mess, and for him to be able to put that behind him back at home and put that second half performance on, was as good as you'll see from a freshman. And I told him that."

Some of that mental toughness was built by his dad, who first told him to stop dreaming in the sixth grade when AJ told him he wanted to play in the NBA. Then Ace told him they would go for it, but AJ would have to listen to him every step of the way.

"OK, Dad, bet," AJ said.

More toughness came in a Rhode Island gym during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ace drove AJ to work out with a trainer named Joe Saunders and a lot of older high school kids. The older kids pummeled him. Ace said his son cried at times.

But AJ got better and grew 5 inches.

"He was a different player when school started," Ace said.

Meanwhile, his parents were putting up guardrails around him to keep him focused.

"I've always felt he had a chance to go all the way," Hinman says, "because he had people looking out for him and his family cares about the right things."

'I'm not for sale'

Skeptics and cynics started taking potshots at AJ Dybantsa and BYU the moment he shocked Stephen A. Smith on ESPN's "First Take" by announcing he was taking his game to Provo, Utah, instead of North Carolina or another college basketball blue blood.

That story is now well known. Some said BYU outspent everyone else to buy Dybantsa's services with millions in NIL (name, image and likeness) money.

Ace Dybantsa says that is nonsense. He asked all seven schools on AJ's final list to meet the same amount. Each school agreed. Financially, it was a level playing field.

"You can't buy me," Ace says. "I'm not for sale. I'm not selling my son, either."

BYU was not on AJ's original list. Ace had moved AJ from Massachusetts to Prolific Prep, an elite high school basketball academy in Napa, California, for his junior year. Ace became disillusioned with the administration, and it was time to move again.

1121jazz.spt_RG_00243_1.JPG — BYU basketball star AJ Dybantsa, left, and his father, Ace Dybantsa, right, look on after an NBA game between the Utah Jazz and the Oklahoma City Thunder at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Friday, Nov. 21, 2025. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News

They took a visit to Utah Prep, a new basketball academy in the small town of Hurricane, Utah, in April 2024, when the coach there told them they should stop at BYU on their way to the airport in Salt Lake City. The coach then informed BYU coach Kevin Young — so new to the job he was still coaching for the Phoenix Suns in the NBA playoffs — that AJ Dybantsa's parents would be on campus.

The Suns were in Minnesota, so Young got permission to leave the team to fly to Provo to meet the parents of the nation's top recruit. He made his pitch to them. For Ace and Chelsea, it was beside the point for two reasons. First, the fact Young showed up in the middle of the NBA playoffs to meet the Dybantsas sold them on the coach. Second, AJ's college choice was AJ's to make.

"Coach, you don't have to convince me," Ace said. "I'm not the one that would be coming to BYU."

The Durantula backed Kevin Young

1108bkccougars.spt_IH_2237.jpg — BYU head coach Kevin Young slaps hands with forward AJ Dybantsa (3) as a timeout is called during an NCAA men's basketball game against Holy Cross held at the Marriott Center in Provo on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News

Ace didn't allow AJ to talk to college coaches before he finalized his list of seven possible colleges. The coaches hated it, Ace said, "but last time I checked, AJ is my son, not the coaches' son."

Once AJ compiled his list, Ace gave the seven coaches his son's number and told them their job was to convince him their school was best. He had one more condition: "If AJ doesn't choose you, don't call me," he said. "Respect his decision."

Every coach did, and the Dybantsas had nothing but great visits to each school. But Young spoke to AJ's dream to become the best possible NBA player he can.

Ace planned to have AJ announce where he'd play in February during Black History Month. But in October 2024, AJ came to his dad's room in Hurricane and said, "If I make the decision now, do I have to wait to announce it?"

Ace said he didn't.

By this time, Kevin Young, also known as KY, had made his pitch to AJ.

"Dad," AJ said, "I'm going to BYU."

"Why?"

"KY."

"Why KY?"

1121bkccougars.spt_KM_7667.JPG — Ace Dybantsa talks to coaches while waiting outside the locker room for his son, BYU Cougars forward AJ Dybantsa, after BYU played Wisconsin in a men's basketball game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Friday, Nov. 21, 2025. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News

"My goal is to be in the league," AJ said. "He coached in the league. He brought an NBA staff to BYU. He brought an NBA nutritionist to BYU. He can help me become the player I want to be."

The clincher was a phone call.

"I talked to my boy, KD," AJ told his dad.

Young had taken out his cellphone during AJ's first BYU visit and called Kevin Durant, absolutely AJ's favorite player and an NBA superstar who Young had coached with the Phoenix Suns.

"KD rocked with KY," Ace says.

So did another Suns star, Devin Booker, who rechristened BYU in honor of his friend and coach: He called it "KYU." Future Hall of Famer Chris Paul also vouched for Young.

As did BYU Hall of Fame basketball player Danny Ainge, now the CEO of basketball operations for the Utah Jazz. Ace fell in love with basketball when he came to America. He loved Michael Jordan and especially Hakeem Olajuwon, but he also became a Celtics fan, and he knew Ainge played on Boston's NBA championship teams.

Can Kevin Young deliver on the promises he made?

The big questions of the AJ Experiment are simple. Will Kevin Young deliver on his promise to develop Dybantsa as an NBA prospect? And does Dybantsa belong at BYU?

Egor Demin was the first big star to buy Young's pro-development pitch, but he was still just getting started at BYU a year ago when Dybantsa committed to the Cougars. Still, Demin succeeded as BYU's first one-and-done player since Shawn Bradley.

1121bkccougars.spt_KM_6356.JPG — BYU Cougars head coach Kevin Young pats BYU Cougars forward AJ Dybantsa (3) as BYU plays Wisconsin in a men's basketball game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Friday, Nov. 21, 2025. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News

The New York Knicks selected Demin with the eighth pick in the first round of this year's NBA draft, and the early returns on his development have been positive.

Young was a success in the NBA because he cultivated a well-documented ability to build personal relationships with star players while helping them push themselves to develop their games.

"I picked BYU because of the coach," Dybantsa told a boy in Boston earlier this month, when he donated shoes at a school. "I feel like we got the best coach in the game. My ultimate goal is to go to the NBA, so I wanted to get that knowledge early."

So, has coach Young delivered?

"And some!" Ace said. "Does that answer your question? KY makes them accountable. He's not (expletive). He told me everything he was going to do for my son, and he's done it."

Before the UConn game, the Deseret News posed the same question to AJ.

Is Kevin Young what he said he was?

"Definitely everything that he said in the recruitment process has been true so far," AJ said. "I know historically, they say a lot of coaches lie during the recruiting process to try to get you there, but everything he said has been going according to plan."

How well AJ Dybantsa fits at BYU

1121bkccougars.spt_KM_4336a.JPG — BYU Cougars forward AJ Dybantsa (3) and guard Richie Saunders (15) talk as BYU plays Wisconsin in a men's basketball game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Friday, Nov. 21, 2025. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News

Some outsiders have remained skeptical.

Jeff Pearlman, a sports writer who has authored books about the NBA, other sports and a rapper, posted a video on social media after BYU manhandled Delaware on Nov. 11. Dybantsa scored 18 points in an 85-68 victory.

The game was everything that is wrong with college sports, said Pearlman, who is a Delaware alum. Schools with money can now let a Delaware develop players and then buy them away with NIL cash. Players like Dybantsa, he said, could show up for one season at a school, take all their classes online and never become part of the campus community.

That isn't who Ace and Chelsea raised their son to be.

AJ has been on BYU's campus since April 25. He's been practicing with Cougar teammates and working with the team's coaches for months. He took spring classes at BYU and earned a 4.0 GPA.

1018fbccougarsutes.spt_RG_07325_1.JPG — BYU men's basketball star AJ Dybantsa, center, sways with the crowd during "power" in between the third and fourth quarter of the game between BYU and Utah at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News

"I'm actually in three in-person classes right now," he told the Deseret News two weeks ago, before the Boston game. "I'm taking Mission Prep — it's like Religion 101. I take the required student success class, University 101. And I take this music class that I'm actually going to after this interview."

This isn't new to Hinman, the coach at St. Sebastian's. Dybantsa left St. Seb's for better competition at the basketball academies, but he didn't leave the school in spirit. He returned to visit his old campus at what Ace calls "the Harvard of private high schools" when Utah Prep played a game in Boston last year.

Hinman says that even as an eighth grader, AJ had an aura to him when he arrived at St. Sebastian's that attracted not only his classmates and older students to him, but faculty, too.

When he visited the school last year, AJ wanted to go from classroom to classroom to see all his old teachers and friends.

"Along the way, he's bumping into students," Hinman says, "and he knows all their names. Even the kids who are younger than him, he treats them like they're his best friend."

This relatability stuns Trevor McLean, an assistant coach and the associate director of admissions at St. Sebastian's.

"AJ has millions of followers on Instagram," McLean says. "He's signing with Nike, and he is a regular kid. There's a 10th grader on our team now who was a little seventh grader when AJ was here, and he still talks with AJ. He says, 'Yeah, I text him every day.'"

Dybantsa started connecting with the BYU student body as soon as he committed to BYU, showing up at games on campus, where students recently were reminded that "the true spirit of Brigham Young University ... places character above learning."

The advancement vice president, Keith Vorkink, who oversees sports, beams when he talks about Dybantsa.

"We're finding that AJ fits BYU extremely well," he says.

What about on the court?

1121bkccougars.spt_KM_756a.JPG — BYU Cougars forward AJ Dybantsa (3) warms up with his teammates before BYU plays Wisconsin in a men's basketball game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Friday, Nov. 21, 2025. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News

As a COVID kid, AJ's social skills and emergence as a big-time ballplayer may be even more impressive. Especially given his circumstances at St. Sebastian's.

First, Ace reclassified him back a year, which meant he would repeat the eighth grade in his first year at the private school. He also joined a basketball team led by much older, more accomplished players.

Trevor Mullin, who now plays at Yale, was on his way to becoming the school's all-time leading scorer. Another teammate, Jaylen Harrell, now plays for Providence.

Yet, "AJ always had the respect of everyone," Hinman says. "Part of it was he was a really good player, so the kids respected his ability. No one questioned me for starting him as an eighth grader. It was obvious to everyone, and then he just had a personality where he showed that he cared about everyone."

"What really stood out," Hinman said, "is his ability to relate with people. Part of that is his upbringing, for sure, and part of it is just, he's got it, you know? He was really respected by the older guys."

But AJ was getting so good, so fast that Ace wanted to reclassify him again, back to his original class. St. Sebastian's wasn't going to do that, and AJ had outgrown the competition anyway. He was the Massachusetts Gatorade Player of the year as a ninth grader. There was nothing in the state left for him to prove, so he moved to Prolific Prep in California.

1024bkccougars.spt_IH_0847.jpg — BYU forward AJ Dybantsa (3) warms up before an NCAA men's basketball exhibition game against the North Carolina Tar Heels held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Friday, Oct. 24, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News

In Napa, he lived with a host family that made him do chores, just like Ace and Chelsea did at home. He fit in with the family and with his new teammates and school. The same thing happened at Utah Prep.

Kevin Young says Dybantsa is fitting in on a Cougar team led by senior star Richie Saunders because he's bought into the program and is respectful.

"It's been a good experience," Young says. "He's a mature young man. The thing I respect about him is he's come in here and he respects things that were already in place. He respects what Richie did for our team last year. He respects the fact that Richie was a first-team all-league player, the most improved player in our league and has come in and not made it all about himself."

Dybantsa shows up at BYU's basketball facility each day at 6:30 a.m. to work on his footwork and specific moves, what he calls his "sauce."

"Obviously, the talent is on full display," Young says, "but what's more impressive is how he goes about his business. I've been around some of the greatest players that this game has ever had, and they all have the same thing in common in terms of how they go about their approach and how much they're a student of the game and how hard they want to be coached.

"I see a lot of similarities in his mentality, similar to the great guys I was very fortunate to coach in the NBA."

Paint-to-great from the post

1121bkccougars.spt_KM_2345.JPG — BYU Cougars forward AJ Dybantsa (3) yells to a teammate as BYU plays Wisconsin in a men's basketball game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Friday, Nov. 21, 2025. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News

Young's five-out motion offense is designed to spread the floor so defenses can't swarm, or pack, the paint. He has a rim-and-3 philosophy. The goal is to create space or lanes for players to drive to the rim. The goal is to get layups and dunks or, if the other team switches to stop the driver, to pass the ball back out for an open 3-point shot.

"We call them paint-to-greats," BYU assistant coach John Linehan says, "because we like to have one player drive and hit the paint while the rest spread out to receive a pass for good shots or even great shots."

Dybantsa is an excellent driver and slasher, but Young is incorporating a new way to get paint-go-great shots with him. A writer for The Athletic posted a video from BYU's win over then-No. 24 Wisconsin in a story this week, illustrating Young's plan.

The coach posts up his young star on the left side in either the high post, at the elbow where the free-throw line meets the lane line, or in the low post, also called the short corner.

From those spots, Dybantsa punished Hurley's UConn, spinning into the lane or fading away, rising high above defenders to feather home short jump shots. It's a devastating set of moves that draw a lot of fouls. He has drawn 35 fouls in five games, The Athletic reported.

He has scored 1.36 points per possession on 11 mid-range jumper attempts. That's Durant-like.

1121bkccougars.spt_KM_1986.JPG — BYU Cougars forward AJ Dybantsa (3) listens to a referee as BYU plays Wisconsin in a men's basketball game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Friday, Nov. 21, 2025. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News

"That would be a good efficiency for layups," wrote The Athletic's CJ Moore.

The paint-to-great part is that Dybantsa also can pass out of the post. In the video Moore shared, Young set up a play for Dybantsa to get the ball in the high post, but a defender tried to deny the pass.

"Get the ball, AJ," Young yelled loud enough to be heard over the din in the Delta Center, the home floor of the Utah Jazz. "Get the ball!"

Dybantsa took the pass and drove down to the left low post. As he did, Saunders rotated around to stand behind him beyond the NBA 3-point line. When Dybantsa spun to go into the key, Saunders' defender left him to help on Dybantsa. Saunders clapped for the ball and Dybantsa passed it out to him for a wide-open 3-pointer. Splash.

"We talk a lot about paint-to-great," Young said. "Those go in."

It worked against Wisconsin. BYU's shooters started slowly in their previous two games, missing the first 10 3-point attempts in each game. Against Wisconsin, they had four early paint touches that led to 3-point makes.

Dybantsa hit Dawson Baker for one. Robert Wright III hit Saunders for another. Dybantsa got to the paint and then passed to Saunders, who moved the ball to Wright for a 3. And then Wright drove and dished to Tyler Mrus for another trey.

BYU blitzed to a 14-6 lead over a top 25 team and never looked back on the way to a 28-point blowout.

"We've run a lot of NBA sets," Dybantsa said. "We don't run too many set plays. We have a lot of actions that we run, early offense. He takes the analytics from the NBA side and tries to apply it to us, so we're more of a fast-paced, up-and-down team."

Young sometimes calls his offense "continuous pistols" for the constant motion. He also calls for 0.5-second decisions, stressing defenses with decisiveness.

But Young is slowing it down now at times to post-up Dybantsa because the analytics say it's an efficient way to get him high-quality shots, to get him to the free-throw line or to create another paint-to-great opportunity.

Hurley saw it firsthand.

"That's as high a level of shot-making as you're going to see in college basketball," the UConn coach said. "He hasn't been making the 3s. At least to start the year, he's been a rim guy, but he had the whole bag going tonight."

Next steps in AJ Dybantsa's development

1121bkccougars.spt_KM_978a.JPG — BYU Cougars forward AJ Dybantsa (3) looks to pass to BYU Cougars guard Dawson Baker (25) during a men's basketball game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Friday, Nov. 21, 2025. BYU won 98-70. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News

Ace says AJ is still growing. He expects him to be 6-foot-10 without shoes when he's done. His wingspan already measures 7-foot-1.

Meanwhile, Young has been working with him for months to improve his 3-point shot. He's making 38.5% of those attempts so far, but Young is adding more arch to Dybantsa's shot, Linehan said.

McLean, the St. Sebastian's assistant coach, pushed Dybantsa to take more 3s. Instead, he would drive and dish to a football player who didn't belong on the same court to get his teammate an easy bucket, the coach said.

"He's a coach's dream," Ace says. "He passes the ball and tells me, 'Everybody's gotta eat.'"

Hinman says Dybantsa is an elite talent who doesn't need to score 30 points a game.

"He's the most unselfish superstar you're ever gonna meet," the coach said. "If he gets double-teamed, he's going to hit the open man. And it doesn't matter who that kid is, he's going to hit him. He's going to make the right play."

Linehan said it's a balance Dybantsa is still mastering.

"That's what makes him special, man," Linehan said. "He's not a selfish person. He's overly passive to his detriment sometimes. He's a great teammate."

He's fitting in alongside Saunders and Wright III nicely. Dybantsa already is delivering down the stretch in games for BYU, where he is averaging 19.8 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists.

Meanwhile, Saunders is averaging 20.8 points and Wright the III is at 16.2.

What about Dybantsa's D?

1108bkccougars.spt_IH_1005.jpg — BYU forward AJ Dybantsa (3) celebrates a teammate's basket against Holy Cross during an NCAA men's basketball game held at the Marriott Center in Provo on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News

Linehan played on high school AAU teams with Kobe Bryant before playing professionally overseas.

"He's a great kid," Linehan says of Dybantsa. "He's still a kid. He has so much energy. He's a vocal leader at his age. He has an unbelievable basketball IQ."

Former NBA front office executive John Hollinger recently published a story in which he scouted Dybantsa. He said the freshman needs to work on lowering his dribble, improving his passing vision and improving his defense.

Linehan, a defensive wizard who set the NCAA record for steals, didn't read the article but doesn't believe Dybantsa's defense is a weakness.

"He's one of our team leaders in deflections," Linehan says. "He can guard one through five. I had (NBA star) Anthony Edwards down at Georgia, and it was the same way. On the ball, those guys are difference makers."

He pointed to a play in the Wisconsin game where Dybantsa closed an 8-foot gap to block a 3-point attempt by Badgers sharpshooter John Blackwell.

"If he locks in that department, he can be unbelievable," Linehan says. "He can be the best defender anytime he steps out on the floor."

Teams are going to challenge Dybantsa as the season progresses. He'll see different looks and need to adjust and adapt, Linehan says.

The future

1121bkccougars.spt_KM_2430.JPG — Ace Dybantsa applauds as BYU and his son, AJ Dybantsa, play Wisconsin in a men's basketball game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Friday, Nov. 21, 2025. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News

AJ rejected basketball as a little boy. He cared only for Spider-Man, begging his mom for every item Kmart carried at the store on the corner by their home. Ace pressed, but Chelsea told him to back off. One day, Ace found a little Spider-Man basketball hoop that fit on the bedroom door.

AJ was hooked.

"I looked up at the sky," Ace says, "and said, 'Thank you, Jesus.'"

AJ left Spider-Man behind, and Ace built a 25-foot-by-25-foot basketball pad in their backyard. AJ is dedicated to ball. Chelsea said that plastic basketball hoop was the best thing Ace ever bought.

"That changed our lives," she said.

Now they fly around the country to their son's games. Ace acts as AJ's agent, with advice from Leonard Armato , a power agent for the likes of Shaquille O'Neal.

"The biggest challenge was adapting to new places," AJ says. "I've been to three different high schools (in three years)."

Next year, AJ Dybantsa will play in the NBA. It will be his fifth team in five years. He says it is the sacrifice he had to make to achieve his dream.

His parents hope the family can then settle down close together wherever AJ lands.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver is already prepared to pronounce his full name at the 2026 draft. Silver and Ace Dybantsa met in Paris earlier this year.

"When you call my son's name on June 28, please don't call him by AJ," Ace told the commissioner. "Call him by his God-given name, Anicet Dybantsa Jr."

Silver practiced with Ace, learning to pronounce "ah-knee-say."

"If you can pronounce Giannis' last name," Ace told the commissioner, laughing at his own reference to NBA superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, "you can pronounce Anicet."

Anicet means undefeated.

1024bkccougars.spt_IH_3422.jpg — BYU forward AJ Dybantsa (3) high-fives fans as he exits the floor after the Cougars defeated the North Carolina Tar Heels during an NCAA men's basketball exhibition game held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Friday, Oct. 24, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News

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