6 min read
WITH THE FIRST pick in the 2026 NBA draft…the tanking teams in the lottery running may have to consider their prospects beyond AJ Dybantsa. The projected top pick, Dybanstsa has not only proven as good as advertised for BYU, pacing the nation in scoring with 25.3 points and the Cougars in rebounding with 6.7 per game in an All-America freshman season. But he’s having a blast on campus and doesn’t appear to be in any hurry to bolt. Before the Cougars’ March Madness tip-off, the 6’9,” 19-year-old connected with Men’s Health to catch us up on his fitness journey, college challenges and future plans.
MEN’S HEALTH: Basketball has been dominated by talk of load management this season—but that’s not really been a problem for you, as you’ve co-led the Cougars in minutes your freshman year. Last time we linked up for Men’s Health’s Future of Sports cover, you talked a lot about the resources that BYU had that allowed you to keep tabs on your diet and fitness. Is that the secret to your stamina?
AJ DYBANTSA: We have great athletic trainers that keep us healthy and travel with us. Our athletic trainers have really good ties to our masseuse, to our physical therapist, that can get our bodies right with soft tissue work, stretching with massages, with any type of gadgets you need—foam rollers, lots of things. Our weight coaches, strength coaches, they do a good job of not killing us so much where our bodies are dead.
MH: Is it really a new thing for you to see that sort of incremental progress, to be able to see the gains in your fitness and strength in real time?
AD: I didn’t have it last year as a senior. But they’re tracking everything now. We have these little trackers on the back of our tank tops in every practice and game that follow our movement. We have heart-rate monitors. It’s definitely more advanced.
MH: Are you finding out anything new about yourself, like maybe your ceiling being a lot higher than you think it is?
AD: Definitely. I’ll think I’ll be working super, super hard—running super, super hard. And then when you check the heart-rate monitor, it’ll be lower. So I know, OK, I have some more left in the tank.
MH: What about keeping your mind right? Last time we connected, we talked about the increased scrutiny in Power Four college basketball and around your future prospects specifically. Are you still good? Have you taken on any tools to help with that?
AD: I was never the guy who needed that. I just know how to block things out, you know. I’ve been dealing with it [most of my life]—keeping the main thing, the main thing and focusing on what I need to focus on.
MH: Back in the day, before NIL and one-and-done, there used to be a lot more discourse about the ‘freshman wall’. Is that still a thing? Did you hit it?
AD: I definitely hit a freshman wall; it probably didn’t look like it. In summer and fall workouts, I had some bad practices that luckily weren’t showcased on live television. They were pretty bad. But I learned from it, watched the film, listened to my coaches. Ultimately, it helped me to have a successful freshman campaign so far.
Matt Hawthorne
MH: Did anyone warn you that it was coming—whether that was coaches, your peers or the NBA superstars that you’re close with?
AD: I was talking to a lot of the NBA rookies this year, because I grew up playing with them—playing with them my whole life. And they just kinda told me, ‘Bro, you just gotta keep going. If you do hit the freshman wall, if that’s during games, during practices, you just gotta keep going because it’s definitely going to happen.
MH: How has your game grown since the summer, with a full regular season under your belt?
AD: Individually, I think I’ve been making some better reads—offensively and defensively, playmaking. And our team, besides the adversity we hit, it’s been tough. A lot of teams would’ve quit, but we’re still in the mix and dancing.
MH: We talked some about your dad moving from your Boston-area home to Utah to be with you through high school. If memory serves, the rest of the family was supposed to come out and join you for college. What’s that been like, having the family back together for support?
AD: It definitely feels good because I still need that discipline. I’m freshly 19, so being able to still see my parents and, you know, get some home-cooked food or just get some advance from my dad and mom, or going to see my younger sister—it means a lot.
MH: She’s playing volleyball out there, right? Have you been able to go to any of her games?
AD: Yeah, I’ve been to a couple games. She’s actually out of town right now, so I can’t see her.
MH: As far as your teammates, when we talked you were still in the ‘getting to know you’ phase. What has the bonding process been like?
AD: We try to do a lot of activities together off the court if we can. It’s kinda tough being in Utah, but we try to get food. Play video games. I’m not the biggest video game guy—but there’ve been a couple video-game tournaments, featuring different games, that guys have won. I don’t participate; I don’t play video games like that , so I’m not gonna embarrass myself. But, yeah, just different things like that to get the chemistry up.
Matt Hawthorne
MH: In terms of school, are there any classes or subjects that have grabbed you yet?
AD: I don’t have a major or anything yet—still undecided. But I’m gonna choose that in the future. I’m just doing the regular general education classes and trying to be cool with those.
MH: You’ve been in the media crush for a minute and obviously the move to Division I just ratchets up the scrutiny. But does playing in Utah offer somewhat of a reprieve?
AD: No.
MH: Your NIL checks should’ve cleared by now. You splurge on anything yet, or are you still too focused on ball for that?
AD: I try to save it. I’m not a big spender. Splurge? I got some jewelry, some chains.
MH: This summer, you told me your goal for the season was to win it all. Is that still the main thing or have you added anything else to that?
AD: I’m just sticking with the ultimate goal. If we win a championship, everything else will fall into place.
MH: You were convinced about the Cougars’ chances of going all the way in the summer, before you had really settled in. Now that you’re 30-plus games in, where’s your confidence level now?
AD: I’m still 100% going into these last six games.
MH: There’s been a lot of talk about your future plans—but from all the media speculation I’ve seen, it doesn’t seem like you’re going anywhere (much to the chagrin of the tanking Washington Wizards). A lot of people questioned your choosing BYU over other Power 4 schools. But it seems like it really was the best decision for you in the end.
AD: I knew me and my family made the right decision as soon as we committed, and we weren’t going to let anybody’s opinion to try and deter us from coming here. I kind of had to set up my mind that I was going to come here when I went on my visit. So nobody’s opinion really matters.
From a basketball standpoint, just the coaching staff and the way they handled everything, was very professional. From a school standpoint, it just felt family-esque. I went to a football game, and they were chanting my name. It just kind of felt like I needed to be here.
Basketball’s Next Big Thing
Andrew Lawrence is a freelance writer, and has written for Sports Illustrated, The Guardian, The Atlantic, The Athletic, The Dallas Morning News, the Associated Press, Fortune, Southern Living, Austin Monthly, Complex, Cookie, Bet.com, ESPN.com and The Classical. It is based in Beaufort, South Carolina.