AJ Dybantsa, the No. 1 high school basketball recruit in the nation, committed to BYU on a massive NIL deal on Tuesday — and he already knows which NBA teams he wants to play for.
“Spurs and Magic,” the 6-foot-9 Brockton, Mass. native, who is the projected No. 1 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, told ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith on “First Take” after his commitment.
“You watch the film, how do you think me and Wemby would play?”
Dybantsa is getting close to $7 million in NIL money including a $5 million base plus his deals with Nike and Red Bull. He chose BYU over Alabama, Kansas and North Carolina.
“What I think this shows you is that NIL…it opens it up for other places to have a chance now,” ESPN’s Jay Bilas said on SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt. “AJ Dybantsa is not a player that BYU would have been in on pre-NIL, and now they’re in on him.”
Bilas also said Dybantsa would be the No. 1 pick in 2025 — likely ahead of Cooper Flagg, Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey — if he were eligible, which he is not.
“He’s that talented and that good,” Bilas said.
As for the NBA, Dybantsa added that he and Magic star Paolo Banchero would “go crazy together.”
Wembanyama, who was unanimously named the 2024 NBA Rookie of the Year, was asked Wednesday if he had heard about Dybantsa’s comments.
“No, I did not,” he said.
Asked if was used to players wanting to play with him, he said, “Not really, because, first of all, the rules of the NBA. But, also, most players, we’re opponents and nothing’s sure in this league about a player’s future so they don’t really do that.”
He added: “I didn’t hear of that [Dybantsa’s comments]. I think the guys were talking about how one of the recruits signed a big deal, right?”
For now, Dybantsa will spend the remainder of this season at Utah Prep before heading to play for coach Kevin Young, the former Phoenix Suns assistant, at BYU.
During a visit to campus last fall, Young already compared Dybantsa to Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, saying, “A guy like you or Kevin or Book.”
“Obviously, coach Kevin Young’s there,” Dybantsa said on “First Take.” “My ultimate goal is to get to the NBA and he coached my favorite player of all time – Kevin Durant.
“I’m trying to get to the NBA and I think it’s gonna be the best development program for me.”
Dybantsa received raucous applause as he was introduced to the BYU fans and his future teammates during their win over Frenso State on Wednesday night.
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