{"id":714258,"date":"2026-04-19T23:22:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T23:22:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/714258\/"},"modified":"2026-04-19T23:22:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T23:22:08","slug":"byu-signee-bruce-branch-iii-shines-at-jordan-brand-classic-with-aj-dybantsa-looking-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/714258\/","title":{"rendered":"BYU signee Bruce Branch III shines at Jordan Brand Classic with AJ Dybantsa looking on"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>BYU basketball signee Bruce Branch III was the only player to put together a double-double in the 2026 Jordan Brand Classic.<\/p>\n<p>Branch III helped Team Air Boys secure a 135-133 victory over Team Flight Boys.<\/p>\n<p>The Phoenix, Arizona, native finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds to go along with three assists and one block in the high school All-Star game.<\/p>\n<p>Bruce Branch III had 20 points and 12 rebounds at the 2026 Jordan Brand Classic<\/p>\n<p>Branch put together that performance in front of BYU basketball star and potential No. 1 NBA draft pick AJ Dybantsa.<\/p>\n<p>Dybantsa was there in the El Camino College gym in Torrance, California, where the game took place. He participated in the Jordan Brand Classic last year before enrolling at BYU. The star BYU player has <a href=\"https:\/\/sports.ksl.com\/ncaa\/byu-basketball\/aj-dybantsa-future-decision\/572931\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">yet <\/a>to announce his decision for next season formally.<\/p>\n<p>Like Dybantsa, Branch will arrive at BYU as a heralded five-star prospect from the high school ranks.<\/p>\n<p>Branch III was one of four players in the game who reached the 20-point mark. Five-star uncommitted prospect Tyran Stokes led all scorers with 29 points.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s been a busy All-Star schedule for Branch since his senior year ended at Prolific Prep. Branch has participated in the <a href=\"https:\/\/sports.ksl.com\/ncaa\/byu-basketball\/bruce-branch-iii-mcdaag-stats\/573133\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">McDonald\u2019s All-American Game<\/a>, Nike Hoops Summit, and now the Jordan Brand Classic.<\/p>\n<p>Bruce Branch III signed with BYU basketball<\/p>\n<p>Last week, Branch officially signed with BYU basketball, more than a month after <a href=\"https:\/\/sports.ksl.com\/ncaa\/byu-basketball\/bruce-branch-iii-commits\/572368\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">committing to the Cougars<\/a> on ESPN\u2019s \u201cNBA Today.\u201d<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Five-Star Bruce Branch III officially signs with BYU.<\/p>\n<p>BYU head coach Kevin Young on Branch:<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We are so excited to welcome Bruce and his family to BYU. Bruce is a high character young man. He plays the game the right way and knows how to win. His talent is undeniable on both\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/OejRJbdOxR\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/OejRJbdOxR<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Mitch_Harper\/status\/2044553766217957564?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">April 15, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are so excited to welcome Bruce and his family to BYU,\u201d BYU basketball head coach Kevin Young said after Branch\u2019s signing. \u201cBruce is a high character young man. He plays the game the right way and knows how to win. His talent is undeniable on both ends off the floor and we can\u2019t wait to help develop his game and help put him in position to be great.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bruce Branch III is currently ranked as the No. 8 overall prospect in the class of 2026 by the 247Sports Composite rankings.<\/p>\n<p>Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for KSL and hosts the Cougar Tracks\u00a0Podcast daily on KSL Sports YouTube and KSL NewsRadio (<a href=\"https:\/\/sports.ksl.com\/podcast_results?i=1499&amp;n=Cougar+Tracks\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">SUBSCRIBE<\/a>).\u00a0Harper also co-hosts Cougar Sports Saturday (12\u20133 p.m.) on KSL NewsRadio.<\/p>\n<p>Follow Mitch\u2019s coverage of BYU athletics in the Big 12 Conference on <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Mitch_Harper\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">X (formerly Twitter)<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/instagram.com\/mitch_harper\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Instagram:<\/a>\u00a0@Mitch_Harper.<\/p>\n<p>Want more coverage of local sports in Utah? Take us with you wherever you go.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/sports.ksl.com\/app\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Download the new and improved KSL Sports app from Utah\u2019s sports leader. Allows you to stream live radio and video, keeping you up to date on all your favorite teams<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"twitter-follow-button\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Mitch_Harper\" data-show-count=\"false\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Follow @Mitch_Harper<\/a><\/p>\n<p>                    <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BYU basketball signee Bruce Branch III was the only player to put together a double-double in the 2026&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":714259,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3724],"tags":[7],"class_list":{"0":"post-714258","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-basketball","8":"tag-basketball"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116433947415706838","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/714258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=714258"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/714258\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/714259"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=714258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=714258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=714258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}