Analyst compares AJ Dybantsa's high school career to Celtics' $80,000,000 worth superstar, details BYU freshman's path to NBA

BYU Cougars star AJ Dybantsa arrived on campus last month to begin his college basketball career as the No. 1-ranked prospect in the class of 2025, according to ESPN. After a few weeks, he was named to Team USA's U19 FIBA World Cup roster.

Dybantsa, who is part of a talented roster, has shone at the tournament and despite only playing 14 minutes in Team USA's 120-64 demolition of New Zealand in the semifinals on Saturday, he still tallied 10 points and has averaged 14.8 points at the tournament.

During Saturday's segment of the "3 True Values" podcast, analyst Jamie Shaw compared Dybantsa's path to the NBA to that of $80 million worth Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum (per Celebrity Net Worth)

"There's a bunch of different pathways you can have in that 6'7" to 6'9" range as a wing," Shaw said (TS-6:42). "AJ Dybantsa is open to all of them, right? So it's just a matter of which pathway he goes down. But his self-creation is great. Even back in eighth, ninth grade, his footwork in the mid-post it's almost like when Jayson Tatum was coming out of high school at Chaminade. He was a master of the elbows.

"I think that with Dybantsa, you talk about how valuable that is, to have multiple pathways that you can go down. And we've seen how valuable that 3-and-D is. I mean, just look at free agency in the NBA. Look at the NBA draft. How many guys moved up from where we had them projected who were in that 3-and-D mold? It's extremely valuable. And then you talk about the two-way superstar, all these upper-end results that he has well within his reach."

AJ Dybantsa reveals NBA goal

Before he started his college basketball career, AJ Dybantsa was already projected as a potential No. 1 pick in the 2026 NBA draft. Over the ensuing months, the clamor has grown due to his stellar showings in the Nike EYBL circuit.

During an interview with On3, Dybantsa revealed that he joined the BYU Cougars because the coaching team, including head coach Kevin Young, had ties to the NBA.

“The NBA, that’s the end goal. That’s a big reason why I went there: to get the NBA knowledge early and the feel and style,” AJ Dybantsa said.

“At BYU, the whole staff from the head coach on down came from the NBA. Head coach Kevin Young coached my favorite player in KD [Kevin Durant], and coached Devin Booker. Both had a lot of good things to say about him. We watched clips of both."

Next season, AJ Dybantsa will learn his craft from Kevin Young, who was an assistant coach with both the Philadelphia 76ers and the Phoenix Suns. Young was also one of the names linked with the vacant Suns job when Mike Budenholzer was sacked in April before Jordan Ott was finally hired.