Thursday Headlines: AJ Dybantsa to BYU? Edition

Could the top prospect in the country be headed to BYU?

AJ Dybantsa is the top prospect in high school basketball, and it’s looking more and more like the talented 6’9 wing will be headed to… BYU.

It’s an interesting scenario, but shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise as we’ve seen the dynamics of BYU Basketball recruiting change since Mark Pope left to come to Kentucky and BYU hired Kevin Young from the Phoenix Suns as his replacement.

The hiring of Young supercharged NIL at Brigham Young, namely with Utah Jazz owner Ryan Young and executive Danny Ainge leading the charge. According to a recent report from ON3’s Pete Nakos, a source said Smith and Ainge have given Young “an open checkbook to go out and get whoever he needs that would fit the culture and will help him win now and reestablish BYU as a basketball power.”

That report also indicated that BYU could pay as much as $4 million to land Dybantsa, so it’s no surprise that the belief is he’ll ultimately land in Provo.

That belief is garnering even more steam now, as 247’s Travis Branham logged a Crystal Ball prediction for Dybantsa to BYU yesterday.

Kentucky was once believed to be a major contender in Dybantsa’s recruitment, specifically when John Calipari was the head coach, but things changed when he took the Arkansas job. Notably, Arkansas isn’t in contention.

Seeing the top high school basketball prospect trending toward BYU is certainly an unusual thing to see, but it’s a different time in college basketball.

Tweet of the Day

Love to see it.

Headlines

UK Basketball’s final exhibition gave lessons to be learned – Herald Leader

Definitely different than the first one, but a good experience regardless.

Pope praises Andrew Carr’s ability to stack decisions – Cats Pause

Pope likes what the veteran big man brings to the table with his scoring and playmaking.

UK Football’s offense has a major second-half problem – KSR

We knew it was bad, but this stat is pretty brutal.

Vince Marrow hopes fans will keep believing – Vaught’s Views

That’s a tough ask right now, if we’re being honest.

J.J. Weaver Nominee for Capital One Orange Bowl-FWAA Courage Award – UK Athletics

He was also a nominee for the award in 2021.

Dodgers come back from down 5 to clinch World Series – ESPN

And Lexington native Walker Buehler picks up the final three outs.

College helmet communications happening on unencrypted frequencies – ESPN

No schools have made specific allegations about opponents accessing them though.

Za’Darius Smith could be on the move – Bleacher Report

The former Cat is a hot name on the NFL trade market.

Teams to watch in the first CFP rankings – NBC Sports

Hard to believe it’s already time for the first rankings.

The Georgia-Florida Football game is going on the move in ‘26 and ‘27 – Yahoo

Going to be weird with it not being in Jacksonville.

USWNT tops Argentina – CBS Sports

The U.S. picks up a big win in Louisville.