Flau'jae Johnson's mom, Kia Brooks, shares 2-word message as AJ Dybantsa's Team USA wins FIBA U19 World Cup

Flau'jae Johnson's mother, Kia Brooks, congratulated BYU freshman AJ Dybantsa and the USA U-19 men's basketball team on social media after Team USA defeated Germany 109-76 in the final of the 2025 FIBA U-19 Basketball World Cup on Sunday in Lausanne, Switzerland.

It's the ninth gold medal for Team USA in the biennial meet, and they have redeemed themselves after falling off the podium in the 2023 edition. Dybantsa was adjudged the Most Valuable Player of the tournament, eliciting praise from Brooks.

The mother of the LSU senior star went to Instagram and praised them, sharing a photo on Instagram Stories with a caption:

"Congrats guys!! ❤️🇺🇸💪"

NCAA Noobita also captured the photo, which was posted on Twitter.

Dybantsa and Team USA averaged 114.6 points per game, breaking the previous mark of 108.9 set by the 1987 Yugoslavia team that had Toni Kukoc, Dino Radja, Vlade Divac and Sasa Djordjevic.

Michigan power forward Morez Johnson Jr led six US players in double figures with 15 points on 5-for-6 shooting from the field and made all of his five attempts from the free throw line. He also had 10 rebounds and one steal.

Mikel Brown Jr added 12 points, two rebounds, four assists and two steals while Dybantsa added 11 points, six rebounds, two assists and one steal for Team USA, who unleashed a 22-2 run in the third quarter to hike the lead to 80-52.

The Stars and Stripes didn't look back and secured the gold medal, relegating the history-making German team to a silver medal in the international competition.

Hannes Steinbach led Germany with 19 points while Christian Anderson had 18 points, 5 rebounds, 9 assists and 4 steals in the final.

---

BYU's AJ Dybantsa named MVP of 2025 FIBA U-19 Basketball World Cup

BYU forward AJ Dybantsa won the Most Valuable Player of the 2025 FIBA U-19 Basketball World Cup after averaging 14.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.3 steals per game in the tournament.

The 6-foot-9 Brockton, Massachusetts, native delivered an electric performance during the tournament, including the final against Germany, where he delivered 11 points, six rebounds and two assists.

He was also named to the tournament's All-Star Five, along with teammate Mikel Brown Jr, Germany's Christian Anderson and Hannes Steinbach and Slovenian star Zak Smrekar.

Brown was also awesome for Team USA, tallying 14.9 ppg, 2.1 rpg and 6.1 apg during the tournament.

German point guard Anderson posted 17.3 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 6.6 apg and 1.6 spg while Steinbach averaged 17.4 points, 13.0 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.3 blocks per game.

Slovenian forward Smrekar finished the 2025 FIBA U-19 Basketball World Cup with 16.1 ppg, 4.7 rpg and 3.7 apg.

Team USA will aim for its 10th U-19 World Cup title in 2027, with the Czech Republic hosting the event from June 26 to July 4, 2027.