BYU star AJ Dybantsa could potentially be the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, but it appears there is no guarantee he’ll be leaving college after his freshman season. Dybantsa appeared on the latest episode of Deseret Voices, where host McKay Coppins asked him if he wants to go No. 1. The 19-year-old stated he does, but when Coppins asked him if he will, he dropped a bombshell.
“Well, I might not leave,” Dybantsa said.
A surprised Coppins wanted to know why Dybantsa would delay heading to the NBA, and it turns out that his mother, Chelsea Dybantsa, wants him to stay at BYU.
“Nah, ’cause my mom wants me to graduate,” Dybantsa said. “… Yeah, so I might not leave. But I might leave. I don’t know. The fans might get into my head, talking about one more year, maybe three more years. I don’t know. But I’m going [to] have to talk to my mom… She wants me to get my degree.”
Dybantsa revealed he’d probably opt for financial management, but hadn’t decided on his major yet. As for why his mother thinks it’s important he gets a degree, she wants him to have something to fall back on.
“As mom, she’s thinking like post-basketball,” Dybantsa said. “And God forbid if anything happens to me, I should always have a backup plan.”
Unless things go horribly wrong, Dybantsa won’t need a backup plan. He was one of the top-ranked high school basketball prospects in the nation and has lived up to all the hype.
Dybantsa is averaging 24.9 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.1 steals, and 0.4 blocks per game for BYU in 2025-26, while shooting 53.0% from the field. He leads the nation in scoring and has led the Cougars to a 20-9 record. Their fans would love to see him stay, but NBA teams would want him to come over right away.
Dybantsa, Kansas’ Darryn Peterson, and Duke’s Cameron Boozer are the three contenders to go No. 1 as things stand. They have been compared to some big names in the NBA, and having three prospects this highly rated has led to talk about this being the best freshman class of all time.
Peterson appeared to be emerging as the favorite to be the top pick in 2026 at one point, even going No. 1 in our mock draft, but that is no longer the case. His stock has dropped just a bit, as he has missed a lot of games, leading to concerns about his love for the game.
All of this had led to Dybantsa being viewed as the best choice for whoever wins the draft lottery in 2026. He might not even be available for selection, though.
It will arguably be the biggest shocker of this one-and-done era in college basketball if Dybantsa decides to stay. A prospect this good does not stay in college for more than a year. Will Dybantsa prove to be an exception to the norm? We’ll find out soon enough.
