Utah Prep top-rated recruit AJ Dybantsa is ready to commit. Is BYU still in it?

PROVO — The nation's top-rated basketball recruit in the Class of 2025 has made his decision.

AJ Dybantsa, the consensus No. 1 overall recruit from Utah Prep, will reveal his college decision Tuesday morning on ESPN's First Take, the network announced Monday in conjunction with the southern Utah-based prep school.

The 6-foot-9, 200-pound wing originally from Brockton, Massachussets, will make his decision between Alabama, BYU, Kansas and North Carolina.

At one point, Dybantsa had a crystal ball report from 247Sports in favor of BYU. That has since been retracted by the recruiting service as of Monday morning, but On3 Sports currently projects the 2022-23 Gatorade Massachusetts boys basketball player of the year with a 69.2% chance to commit to BYU.

Alabama, which has been thought to be the Cougars' primary challenger for Dybantsa, has a 7.0% chance, per On3.

Dybantsa averaged 19.1 points, 9.6 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 2.5 blocks per game as a freshman at St. Sebastian's School in Massachusetts before transferring to Prolific Prep in Napa, California, for a year. He then reclassified to the Class of 2025 before transferring to Grind Session circuit rival Utah Prep before the 2024-25 season.

At Utah Prep, Dybantsa has played with four-star point guard JJ Mandaquit, who has signed with Washington; and top 2026 prospect Junior County, a four-star wing with offers from BYU, Cal, UNLV and Utah State, among others.

"He's a joy to play with. He's an even bigger joy to be with and to spend time with off the court," Mandaquit told KSL.com of Dybantsa. "Obviously, everyone knows him as AJ the basketball player.

"Off the court, he's just a great person," he added. "He just wants to have fun, to goof around, tell jokes all the time. He's super energetic; you can tell by the way he plays. But he's a joy to be around."

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