BYU Cougars small forward AJ Dybantsa lived up to expectations and then some during his freshman season.
Widely considered the nation’s top recruit, Dybantsa leads the nation in scoring at 25.3 points per game. BYU is 23-11 and a sixth seed in the NCAA Tournament.
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Just two days before the Cougars begin postseason play, the Associated Press named Dybantsa a First-Team All-American. He joins a select group of BYU players to earn the honor. Only Jimmer Fredette (2010-11) and Danny Ainge (1980-81) have matched the achievement.
As a result, Deseret News reporter Jackson Payne shared the news on his X account.
Two other freshmen joined Dybantsa on the All-America First Team in Duke’s Cameron Boozer and Arkansas’ Darius Acuff Jr. Michigan’s Yaxel Landeborg and Texas Tech’s JT Toppin rounded out the team.
Dybantsa started all 34 games for the Cougars, adding 6.7 rebounds and 3.8 assists to his impressive scoring average. He shot 51.3% from the field and 34% of his 3-point attempts.
“When I left the NBA to come to college,” BYU coach Kevin Young told ESPN, “one thing I noticed is just a lot of guys, their processing speed was way slower. AJ’s is extremely high. So I can tell him something in the game, or in a film session, and he’s going to carry it over.”
BYU Cougars forward AJ Dybantsa (3) shoots a 3-pointer over West Virginia Mountaineers guard Chance Moore. | Ben Queen-Imagn Images
BYU’s previous First-Team All-Americans are Utah legends.
Fredette captured the nation’s imagination as a scoring machine, collecting AP Player of the Year and Wooden and Naismith awards. Fredette averaged 28.9 points per game and led the Cougars to the Sweet Sixteen as a senior, but did not make much of an impact in the NBA. He averaged 6 points per game in 241 games for five teams.
Meanwhile, Ainge won the Wooden Award after averaging 24.4 points per game as a senior and carrying the Cougars to the Elite Eight. He played baseball for the Toronto Blue Jays before joining the Boston Celtics and winning two NBA titles during a 12-year NBA career.
BYU faces the winner of a First Four game between the NC State Wolfpack and Texas Longhorns at 7:25 p.m. ET Thursday on TBS and Max.
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