PROVO, Utah – BYU’s AJ Dybantsa announced his decision to declare for the 2026 NBA Draft on Thursday morning at an event held at the Davis School in Brockton, Mass.
“Today I am officially declaring for the 2026 NBA Draft,” Dybantsa said. “I want to thank all of my coaches, BYU head coach Kevin Young and the whole staff at BYU, all of my teammates that I have played with since I was a kid. I want to thank God. I wouldn’t be healthy or here without him.”
Dybantsa also explicitly stated that he plans to finish his degree at BYU in the coming years.
Dybantsa looks to become the second straight lottery pick for head coach Kevin Young and the Cougars after earning consensus First Team All-American honors in his lone season in Provo.
GO BE GREAT. pic.twitter.com/kdFzoes4je
— BYU Men's Basketball (@BYUMBB) April 23, 2026
The Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year led the nation in scoring at 25.5 points per game scoring in double figures in all 35 games including 28 20-point performances, eight 30-point performances and a pair of 40-point performances. He is also the only freshmen in program history to ever record a triple-double with 33 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in a win over Eastern Washington.
His 894 points are the second-most scored in a single season in program history and third-most by a freshman in NCAA Division I men’s basketball history. The Big 12 Freshman of the Year broke a pair of Kevin Durrant’s Big 12 tournament scoring records highlighted by his 40-point performance in a win over Kansas State where the Cougars scored a conference tournament record 105 points.