AJ Dybantsa Is the Favorite to Go First in the 2026 NBA Draft BYU Just Produced a Top Pick
AJ Dybantsa spent one year at BYU. He led the country in scoring. He earned first-team All-American honors. And now he is the projected No. 1 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.
The 6-foot-9 forward declared for the draft Thursday, ending any speculation about a second college season. Nobody in his position was going back. Dybantsa averaged 25.5 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 3.7 assists as a freshman while shooting 51 percent from the floor. Those numbers are absurd. The scoring average was the second-highest by a college freshman since 2000, trailing only Kevin Durant’s 903-point season at Texas in 2007.
Yeah. Kevin Durant. That is the company Dybantsa is keeping.
BYU went 23-12 during his one season in Provo. The Cougars made the NCAA Tournament. Dybantsa gave the program a national profile it has never really had. He was the first five-star recruit BYU had landed since the ESPN recruiting database began tracking in 2007. Head coach Kevin Young turned that recruitment into a program-defining moment, and Dybantsa delivered on all of it.
Now Young has to rebuild without him. That is the trade-off with these one-and-done stars. You get one magical year and then you start over. Young has already added a French prospect who is drawing early attention, so BYU is not going to just fall off the map. But losing Dybantsa is going to hurt in the short term.
For the NBA teams tanking their way toward the top of the draft, the pursuit of Dybantsa is very much on. He is a legitimate franchise cornerstone. He can score at every level. He is a good passer for his size. He has decent handle. He needs to keep improving as a shooter and as a defender, but the raw material is elite.
Cameron Boozer, who went No. 3 in the 2026 draft to the Grizzlies, ended up with a lot of hype but did not manage to lock down the top pick. The team that finishes with the worst record next season should have the inside track on Dybantsa, though the lottery odds have flattened over the last few years, so nothing is a lock.
Comparisons for Dybantsa vary. Some scouts see a bigger, more athletic Jaylen Brown. Others see a Jayson Tatum type. Nobody is calling him LeBron, but the physical tools are legitimately special. He is a legit 6-foot-9 with a strong frame and good athleticism. He will step into the NBA and be able to compete physically from Day 1.
The pressure that comes with being the No. 1 pick is real. Dybantsa has been handling it since he was a high school sophomore. His profile has been huge. He has done shoe deals. He has done national media. He has been the face of youth basketball for two years running. He has not shown any signs of buckling under it.
BYU sent a top pick to the NBA. Dybantsa is going to be a rookie next year. The team that lands him just changed its future.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
