The BYU Cougars are coming off a massive regular-season finale victory over the weekend after knocking off the No. 10 Texas Tech Red Raiders at home, gaining momentum heading into this week’s Big 12 Conference tournament and next week’s NCAA Tournament.
Continuing to lead the charge has been freshman sensation and top NBA draft prospect AJ Dybantsa, who is now preparing for his first — and likely only — postseason as a collegiate player. Dybantsa is widely viewed as a potential No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, though he hasn’t completely ruled out a return to BYU just yet.
Across 31 games this season, he has averaged 24.7 points per game — the highest mark in the nation — along with 6.7 rebounds and 3.8 assists, while shooting 51.2% from the field and 33.9% from beyond the arc.
With his dominant performance this season, the Big 12 announced Monday that Dybantsa has officially been named the conference’s Freshman of the Year.
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Some fans even believed AJ Dybantsa should have also been named Player of the Year. However, that honor ultimately went to Jaden Bradley of the Arizona Wildcats.
“And should also be Player of the Year actually,” one fan wrote.
Another fan added, “Is this how we treat the best scorer — not just in the B12 — but in all of D1 NCAA?”
“Congrats to AJ for winning Big 12 Freshman of the Year,” another person wrote.
“POY in my book. Congrats AJ,” one more fan commented.
Now, AJ Dybantsa will have the opportunity to truly cement his legacy — not only at BYU Cougars, but in college basketball as a whole — during both the Big 12 Conference tournament and NCAA Tournament with the entire country watching.
Currently, Joe Lunardi of ESPN has the Cougars projected as a No. 6 seed, which would set up a first-round matchup against a No. 11 seed. As of Monday, Lunardi has that team projected to be the UCF Knights.
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