AJ Dybantsa is a foul merchant. The best player in college basketball and soon-to-be first overall pick in the NBA Draft benefits from the whistle.
BYU’s loss to Arizona proves his game is largely dependent on free throws.
Do not get me wrong. Dybantsa has absolutely lived up to his billing as a college basketball superstar and he will have a great professional career. His time at the charity stripe also plays a big role in his success, much like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Two things can be true at once!
AJ Dybantsa shoots a lot of free throws.
The top-ranked prospect in the recruiting Class of 2025 currently leads the entire country in scoring with an average of 23.6 points per game. He is shooting 53% from the field.
Although AJ Dybantsa is as good as advertised and a complete basketball player, his ability to get to the line helps to boost his scoring numbers. The true freshman guard has shot at least 10 free throws in more than half of his games. The only nine games where he has not shot at least 10 free throws were against lesser opponents like Holy Cross, Delaware, Pacific and UC Riverside.
Dybantsa averages 8.6 free throws per game and makes 6.6. He is 131-172 overall. Free throws account for more than a quarter of his total points on the season.
To reiterate— this is not a knock on how he plays the game. Drawing a foul is a skill in itself! It is simply an observation. Dybantsa gets to the line more than most.
The best player in college basketball is a foul merchant.
BYU’s loss to Arizona on Monday night is the perfect example of how AJ Dybantsa benefits from the whistle. This was called as a Flagrant 1 foul on Brayden Burries:
The fact that they called this a flagrant is nasty lmoa aj dybantsa acting like he got shot pic.twitter.com/7DYxYbsz7o
— John (@iam_johnw) January 27, 2026
Burries absolutely hooked Dybantsa and pulled him to the ground, but Dybantsa acted as though he got shot. It was an extreme overreaction for the correct foul call.
Lets also look at another play during the second half while the Cougars tried to make a comeback. Dybantsa drew a foul on a three-pointe even though he very clearly kicked out his leg.
This is what it looked like as the Wildcats defender closed out on the shot:
This is what it looked like after Dybantsa kicked out his leg to bait the foul:
Dybantsa made only six of his 24 shot attempts in the three-point loss to Arizona. He still finished with 24 points because he made 11 free throws.
At some point, we need to call a spade a spade. AJ Dybantsa is the best scorer in college basketball and a foul merchant.