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The scene was surreal for BYU fans. There on ESPN's "First Take" Tuesday morning was the nation's No.1 high school basketball player, AJ Dybantsa, opening his jacket and showing a BYU shirt while putting on a BYU hat.
The moment is being labeled historic, not only for BYU, but the state of Utah as a generational high school talent decided to further his career beyond high school in Provo. Dybantsa, a 6-foot-9, 210-pound athlete who can play four positions, signed with BYU and is expected to be the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft come 2026.
Here is a panel of experts on the Field of 48 Podcast discussing Dybantsa's signing with the Cougars.
Here are the stories we posted in the Deseret News the day of his signing:
AJ Dybantsa signs with BYU ( Jackson Payne )
With AJ Dybantsa signing, everything is changing says former BYU great Travis Hansen ( Dave McCann )
How social media reacted to AJ Dybantsa choice ( Jackson Payne )
Other prospects with perfect rating, how they fared ( Brandon Judd )
AJ Dybantsa signing game changer for Cougars ( Jay Drew )
How AJ Dybantsa will help future recruiting ( Dick Harmon )
Question of the week: The BYU versus Colorado Alamo Bowl in San Antonio is the top-ranked bowl outside of the CFP and is also the most lucrative available to Big 12 teams. How do you think BYU will respond to the invitation to play the Buffs?
Jay Drew:Bowl games are always tricky to predict. So much depends on the motivation factor for the teams involved. In the case of the Valero Alamo Bowl on Dec. 28 in San Antonio, it appears at the onset of preparation that both teams are properly motivated. The first clue was both coaches saying they aren't aware of any players who will opt out of the game. The Cougars and Buffs are taking this one seriously, it would appear.
BYU has thrived on disrespect the entire season, going 10-2 after being picked to win fewer than five games. Expect Kalani Sitake and his staff to drill that into their heads again this month, playing on the fact that Colorado is a media darling and BYU is playing second fiddle, as it were.
Is Sitake a good bowl coach? For the most part, yes. He's 4-2 at BYU in bowl games. A couple have been squeakers — wins over Wyoming and SMU come to mind. The worst performance came at the Independence Bowl against UAB, when quarterback Jaren Hall didn't play and the Cougars looked disinterested almost from the opening kickoff. I expect BYU to have plenty of interest three days after Christmas to show that maybe, just maybe, it belonged in the CFP.
Dick Harmon:I've seen a lot of bowl games the past 48 years covering college football and a lot of them haven't been pretty for BYU. In the LaVell era, there was no indoor practice facility to help prepare in winter and Edwards saw the game as a reward to players and coaches and their families, thus his bowl record of 7-14-1 (.341%). Sitake's record is 4-2 or .667%. I think part of the reason is Kalani sells his players on how lucky and privileged they are to play football and bowl games are one more opportunity — the very last for some. It resonates.
Injuries play a big part in bowl games and hopefully the Cougars will get offensive linemen Brayden Keim and Isaiah Jatta and RB Hinckley Ropati back. I think the attraction of playing against two top-ranked Heisman candidates in QB Shedeur Sanders and WR-DB Travis Hunter is a motivating factor, as is missing the CFP bracket.
Two other factors for BYU that loom huge are the seniors have been outstanding motivators and want to go out with a win. Seniors have pushed this team forward since winter workouts when they missed going to a bowl with a five-win finish. The fact Colorado has led TV ratings the past two seasons also plays into motivation. This game will be by far the biggest TV audience the Cougars have played in front of in some time. That can get some blood boiling on the BYU side.
In a late Saturday night announcement, BYU extended the contract of head coach Kalani Sitake , ensuring his ability to retain his assistants and gain resources for Big 12 competition.
BYU's players say they are anxious to face Colorado in the Alamo Bowl as noted in this story by Jay Drew. Colorado has become must-see TV for college football fans and the Cougars will be a part of it in San Antonio.
BYU and Utah are on the final list for a top-ranked tight end, Brock Harris.
NY Post calls AJ Dybantsa signing "shocking" ( New York Post )
Why top recruit chose BYU ( USA Today )
BYU providing a road map for turnarounds ( 247Sports )
Comments from Deseret News readers:
I n his own words why he chose BYU: "Obviously with Coach Kevin Young there, my ultimate goal is to get to the NBA, and he coached my all-time favorite player Kevin Durant and had high praise about him," Dybantsa said. "I went on my visit, and the head coach down to the analytics guy, then the analytics guy all the way down to the dietician is all NBA staff, even the strength guy. If it's all NBA, and I'm trying to get to the NBA, I think it's going to be the best development for me."
The NIL money is nice but his paycheck in the NBA is much more so he would pick the best place to get into the NBA over just the best NIL.
Here are the past NBA No. 1 pick salaries:
Victor Wembanyama 2023 $12.2 million
Paolo Banchero 2022 $11.1 million
Cade Cunningham 2021 $10.1 million
Anthony Edwards 2020 $9.8 million
Zion Williamson 2019 $8.1 million
— Tarman
All you guys and Coach Young can thank ME, for my exceptional influence on this fine young man. I had the privilege of meeting him in October when I was lucky enough to attend a practice. So he's holding a ball and I'm standing right in front of him. We're exchanging superficial pleasantries. I ask him to bounce the ball and he does. I swipe it and say something like "now I can tell my grandkids I was guarding you and I stole the ball." He gives me this quizzical look and says, "Well, did you steal it or did I just give it to you?"
So that was the clincher. Obviously, he thought, "Wow, I want to attend a school so good that even the old geezer alums are ballers, as evidenced by the intimidating, hawking defense displayed by this gray hair dude." I'm 70 years of age, BTW, Class of '78.
Seriously, he seems like a real nice kid, respectful, smart, grounded. You look at his face and into his eyes and you see nothing resembling a young goof-off, not that he doesn't have a sense of humor or enjoy himself. This young man struck me as knowing right where he wants to go and how to get there. And the guy is tallllll and longgggg. Skinny, but in a Kevin Garnett/Durant-ish way. I can think of worse things than a KG/KD running around in a BYU uni, driving the ROC crazy loud, scoring with obscenely-awesome shots, hawking rebounds and dishing to his mates.
— Mowgli54
Dec. 11 | 7 p.m. | Men's basketball | Fresno State | @ Provo
Dec. 13 | 7 p.m. | Women's basketball | Washington State | @ Pullman, Washington
Dec. 14 | 7 p.m. | Men's basketball | Wyoming | @ Salt Lake City
