Well, this is a little different.
It’s summer and there’s football recruiting going on, colleges are gearing up for workouts, college basketball teams are assembling to work out, and there’s the NBA draft on the doorstep.
Then there’s the FIBA Under-19 World Championship in Lausanne, Switzerland, where incoming BYU freshman AJ Dybantsa will compete for Team USA.
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You can watch the USA go against Australia and other U-19 games live on the FIBA website. The Americans are in Group D with the Aussies, Cameroon and France.
The official FIBA website is filled with information, including a poll to determine the FIBA U19’s greatest of all time (GOAT) since the competition began in 1979. The nominees include Toni Kukoc, Yugoslavia (1987); former Utah center Andrew Bogut, Australia (2003); RJ Barrett, Canada (2017); Efthymios Rentzias, Greece (1995); and Jonas Valanciunas, Lithuania (2011).
How is Dybantsa, projected as the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, going to fare on this stage?
Well, he already has an international resume.
His international experience includes winning gold medals with Team USA in the FIBA U16 Americas Championship and the FIBA U17 World Cup. In the FIBA U17 World Cup, Dybantsa averaged 14.1 points, 3.9 rebounds and 4.1 assists, while shooting 58.7%.
But what has folks buzzing about the BYU-bound star is his preparation in Colorado Springs, Colorado, leading up to the trip to Switzerland.
He was on fire.
Those who witnessed workouts said Dybantsa was the vocal and emotional leader on the team, practically pushing everyone on his practice team to play harder.
Longtime broadcast voice Fran Fraschilla witnessed the workouts and said 15 of the USA players would play in the NBA and Dybantsa stood out.
Swish Cultures posted on X some highlights of Dybantsa’s play, declaring he scored 11 straight points in three minutes.
Profootballnetwork.com featured college basketball notes and reported: “The 6-foot-9 forward with a 7-foot wingspan demonstrated his skill during the scrimmage, knocking down 3-pointers, attacking the rim, hitting pull-up jumpers, and playing lockdown defense. What impressed observers most wasn’t just his scoring ability, but his competitive fire in what could have been treated as a meaningless practice session.”
Jack Pilgrim from On3.com reported Dybantsa’s performance led to a discussion amongst media members afterwards on how he’d fare scoring in the NBA.
“The one kid in the gym with nothing to prove — No. 1 in this case, all of the NIL money in the world, likely No. 1 draft pick in 2026 — was screaming to his teammates to pick up 94 feet with defensive call-outs,” wrote Pilgrim.
Called a mix of LeBron James and a young Kevin Garnett, NBA draft analyst Matt Bobcock opined, “He’s got the physical tools and skill set that excites you.”
Dybantsa has said he tries to emulate the game of Tracy McGrady and Shai (Gilgeous-Alexander).
In his Youtube podcast, Aaron Torres declared Dybantsa was dominating the tryouts in Arizona under the purview of Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd whose own 5-star recruit, Koa Peat, was joined by Louisville-bound 5-star McKell Brown Jr., and Kentucky’s Jasper Johnson, who has also earned a 5-star moniker.
“There is very clearly one player that is dominating these Team USA workouts, one player that even amongst a group that is going to include dozens of NBA players is taking it to a another level and is dominating in a way nobody else does and that player is AJ Dybantsa,” said Torres.
“As good as I think AJ can be, and as good as AJ has been hyped to be, I actually think he might even be better than people realized.”
On the Pete Sousa Show, hosts raved about the advent of Dybantsa in the Big 12.
“I am very, very excited for the bubble wrap to come off this dude and just to see him be prolific,” said Sousa. “We are so lucky this guy is in the Big 12, playing in our conference.”
The fact that Baylor’s 5-star point guard, Rob Wright III, transferred to BYU to play alongside Dybantsa seemed almost unfair, according to Sousa. A pass-first guard who demands defensive attention because of his penetration and scoring from inside and out, Wright will free Dybantsa to do his thing.
“This is why the Rob Wright signing is so brilliant for BYU, and it makes so much sense for him to play there because playing him next to AJ Dybantsa is frightening.”
There you have it.
Basketball headlines heading into July are a rare thing for Provo where folks are mostly plugged into parades and fireworks.
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