AJ Dybantsa made college basketball history on Tuesday with his commitment to BYU. However, according to reports, the top-ranked player in the recruiting Class of 2025 has been signed with the Cougars since the end of November.
Meanwhile, it appears as though his father leveraged his son’s recruitment to attend one of the best games of the year for free.
Dybantsa, a five-star small forward, is considered a can’t-miss prospect. He is already projected to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft and will get paid a (not-so) small fortune through NIL while in college. His compensatory package is going to pay out $5 million for, essentially, nine months of work in Provo. BYU has legitimate national title hopes for next season.
When did AJ Dybantsa actually commit?!
Prior to Dybantsa’s formal commitment on national television, he was supposedly “still considering” Alabama and North Carolina as of last week. Kansas State and Kansas were also in the mix. In fact, his father Ace Dybantsa said there was “no chance” that AJ Dybantsa was going to play at BYU on Nov. 27.
With his son’s recruitment “still open,” Ace sat just one row off of the floor as the Tar Heels hosted the Crimson Tide in Chapel Hill on Dec. 4. AJ’s father probably did not pay for the tickets. They were likely provided to him by the university. UNC thought it could still land his son at the time.
No. 1 overall recruit AJ Dybantsa’s father, Ace, was in attendance for the Alabama vs. North Carolina game tonight.
— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) December 5, 2024
His son is considering both the Crimson Tide and the Tar Heels.https://t.co/TsxXRjqk4n https://t.co/y7TLLy2U8j pic.twitter.com/88cw2esIJu
As it would turn out, Ace’s attendance at the Dean Smith Center was either an intentional smokescreen or entirely for pleasure. According to The Field of 68, AJ actually signed his financial agreement with BYU at least three weeks ago. That timeline dates back to Nov. 20ish.
If true, Ace Dybantsa attended the game between Alabama and North Carolina while his son was already committed behind the scenes. He also said there was “no chance” that AJ was going to play for the Cougars after AJ already agreed to play for the Cougars!