Why Is There So Much Hype Around AJ Dybantsa?

Is he the best American prospect since LeBron James?

The 2026 NBA draft class is stacked but there is one player in particular everyone seems to be buzzing about; AJ Dybansta, 6’8” wing out of Utah Prep. Jamie Shaw of On3 went as far as to say that he is the “best domestic prospect” he had seen “in the last 10 years.”

But why is there so much hype around Dybansta?

First and foremost, AJ Dybansta is an elite scorer. He is a knockdown shooter, and a dominant finisher, with a high IQ and that all-important clutch gene. It appears he is NBA ready right now, at the tender age of 17.

He plays with an infectious fire, which especially shows up on the defensive end. He routinely picks up full court, pressuring smaller guards, and defending up and down the line-up. He takes the toughest matchup every night, and makes sure he walks away with bragging rights.

Don’t get me wrong, he's not the perfect player; no one is. Every basketball player has their flaws; his handle isn’t quite there, and there isn’t enough nuance to his game as of now. He can be, at times, a little too eager to get his teammates involved, forgetting how much of an unstoppable force he is.

There has been footage of him already training with NBA superstars such as Kevin Durant, Jayson Tatum, Paul George, & LeBron James.

Dybansta’s highlights have already been scattered across social media, making him a social media phenom and one of the most anticipated prospects in recent memory. Some of the draft circles most respected names have compared him to legendary players such as Paul George and LeBron James.

Dybansta attended Jayson Tatum's Elite Camp back in 2023. At that time he was just 16, competing with legitimate NBA Players and other seriously good NBA prospects such as Cooper Flagg. If you were to watch those scrimmages without knowing who was who, you wouldn’t guess Dybantsa was the 16-year-old.

It’s not just his skill level and physical dominance that makes him interesting, it’s his desire to keep on improving. Dybansta is widely considered one of the best young players in the world, but he doesn’t let that get to his head. “I’m not focused on that, I just want to get better”.

Even the NBA stars of today are beginning to take notice; there has been footage of him already training with NBA superstars such as Kevin Durant, Jayson Tatum, Paul George, & LeBron James.

Dybansta was the 2022 Massachusetts Boys’ Gatorade Basketball Player of the Year after he led St. Sebastians School to a NEPSAC Class A State Championship in his freshman year (!), just proving his impact on winning basketball. He just recently won his first Gold Medal with Team USA at the FIBA Americans Under-16 Championship in Mexico back in 2023 and scored a game-high 21 points during the 2024 Nike Hoop Summit. Dybantsa has dominated at every level he’s played at, and I don’t expect that to change as he enters his senior year at Utah Prep.

He is set for a visit to Kansas State this weekend, however his top five schools are reportedly BYU, UNC, Kansas, Alabama and Baylor. He is not expected to make a decision until February.

Dybantsa now finds plenty of pressure on his shoulders. We have seen plenty of similarly-hyped prospects fall out of favour rapidly. It should be his mission to make sure his name isn’t added to that list.