AJ Dybantsa was the No. 1 recruit last season. Despite BYU’s inability to make a deep run in the NCAA tournament, Dybantsa’s freshman season was a great one individually. He was arguably the best player in the country and averaged 25.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.7 assists in 35 games. Dybantsa was the top scorer ahead of the likes of Darius Acuff Jr, Jordan Riley and more.
With the freshman duo of AJ Dybantsa and Robert Wright III, BYU looked like a solid side, capable of causing an upset against a higher-seeded team. However, senior Richie Saunders suffered an ACL injury and was able to play only 25 games. There was a clear lack of leadership for Kevin Young’s team, which required Dybantsa to fill the void.
On NBA on Prime, Dybantsa was asked about one aspect of his game that he would like to improve before heading to the NBA.
“Definitely my leadership. We had Richie Saunders who went down with a season ending injury and everybody was kind of looking at me and I was like, ‘damn, I’m a freshman.’ But you know, I kind of stepped into that leadership role and I got a lot to work on, you know, ball handling, decision- making, shooting, defense, it’s a lot,” AJ Dybantsa said.
Fans react to AJ Dybantsa’s honest admission about learning leadership
Fans agreed with AJ Dybantsa and appreciated his humbleness.
“His humility is perhaps his best asset. He’ll be great,” one fan shared.
“This is an honest response from him and I think he has right attitude and approach to the game,” another fan appreciated.
“Out of all prospects I like him the best…he doesn’t sit out half of a game for rest unless he’s injured unlike that other prospect..,” one fan took a dig at Darryn Peterson.
“No one would be a better mentor for AJ than Pascal Siakam,” another fan claimed.
“This kid is going to have a historic rookie season next year,” another stated.
“”Definitely my leadership.” Nobody on that BYU team stepped up in leadership all year long tho. It was so obvious nobody was getting them ready for games,” another said.
Dybantsa is widely expected to be the No. 1 pick of the 2026 NBA draft, but Kansas guard Darryn Peterson and Duke forward Cameron Boozer are also in the running.
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