BYU Cougars commit AJ Dybantsa is one of the most highly anticipated recruits in recent years. He is viewed as one of the top two recruits in his class, alongside Kansas' Darryn Peterson. However, scouts are split on which player should be ranked higher.
Dybantsa, who has an NIL valuation of $3.8 million (according to On3), has not even started his college career yet but has already signed several NIL deals. One of his most notable deals is with Red Bull. He signed an NIL deal with them in October.
On Sunday, Dybantsa attended the Monaco Grand Prix. Shortly after the race, he shared several photos from the weekend on Instagram. Many of the pictures included Red Bull product placement. He added an emoji in the caption and tagged Red Bull Racing's IG account.
Red Bull had a decent weekend on the track. Max Verstappen finished fourth in the race, giving him 12 points. However, the other driver, Yuki Tsunoda, finished 17th and two laps behind the leaders. McLaren's Lando Norris won the race, beating Ferrari's Charles Leclerc by 3.131 seconds.
The win brings Norris within three points of his McLaren teammate, Oscar Piastri, for the lead in the F1 standings this season. Verstappen is comfortably in third, sitting 22 points behind Norris but 37 points ahead of fourth-place George Russell. Tsunoda sits in 13th place with 10 points.
BYU's AJ Dybantsa is expected to compete with Kansas' Darryn Peterson for the top spot in the 2026 NBA draft
While AJ Dybantsa is having fun watching F1 in Monaco, he has an incredibly important offseason ahead of him. As one of the top prospects in basketball, he is expected by most experts to only spend one season in college. As a result, after next season, he will likely start his NBA career.
His performance next season will determine where he will be selected. Although the 2025-26 college basketball season has not started yet, Dybantsa and Darryn Peterson are vying for the top spot in the draft.
Dybantsa is joining a BYU team that has not gone a deep run in March Madness in recent years. Although the Cougars reached the Sweet 16 this past season, they have not had a deeper run than that since 1981.
As a one-and-done college player, AJ Dybantsa will be expected to elevate the Cougars to a deep run in the NCAA Tournament. If he can do that, there is a good chance he will be the first pick in the draft next year over Peterson.
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