Generational basketball recruit AJ Dybantsa cuts his list of schools. Did UK make it?
The best college basketball prospect in the class of 2025 — and perhaps of the past few years — has released a list of schools that he’s still considering in his recruitment.
And the Kentucky Wildcats failed to make the cut.
On Friday morning, AJ Dybantsa — a 6-foot-9, 200-pound small forward who is the consensus top recruit in the 2025 class — released a list of seven schools that he’s still considering for college.
UK wasn’t among that select group. Dybantsa’s list included Alabama, Auburn, Baylor, BYU, Kansas, Kansas State and North Carolina.
Dybantsa’s list cut announcement came via ESPN.
“I’m looking to build a relationship with a head coach who doesn’t sugarcoat anything, but we can still have that bond both on and off the court,” Dybantsa told ESPN. “(We can) talk about things on and off the court and play to my strengths while helping me with my weaknesses. The list is based on the coaches who spoke with my dad the most. I will decide in February.”
So far in his recruitment, Dybantsa has taken visits only to Auburn and BYU.
It’s Dybantsa’s intention to visit each of the seven schools he’s still considering in his recruitment, according to his father, Ace Dybantsa. The elder Dybantsa oversees the recruiting process for his son, a longtime USA Basketball participant who has also starred at the high school and grassroots levels.
At July’s Peach Jam — the season-ending Nike Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL) event in North Augusta, South Carolina — Ace Dybantsa said the plan is for his son to commit to a school in February.
Originally a class of 2026 recruit before reclassifying to the 2025 group last October, Dybantsa is from Massachusetts and has played high school basketball at St. Sebastian’s School (Massachusetts) and Prolific Prep (California). Earlier this summer, Dybantsa announced he would play his final pre-college season at Utah Prep in Hurricane, Utah.
Kentucky, along with just about every other college basketball program in the country, attempted to position itself favorably in Dybantsa’s recruitment.
Interest from UK began when John Calipari was the head coach in Lexington: Calipari and Kentucky extended a scholarship offer to Dybantsa in November 2023.
Calipari’s new school, Arkansas, also didn’t make Dybantsa’s list cut.
After the offseason coaching change from Calipari to Pope, the new Kentucky coach reoffered Dybantsa a scholarship in May.
During the early months of his time as Kentucky’s coach, Pope and his coaching staff got several live viewings of Dybantsa during recruiting periods. This included watching Dybantsa on the Nike EYBL circuit in Indiana and South Carolina and at the FIBA Under-17 Men’s World Cup in Turkey.
Pope and assistant coach Jason Hart (a nine-year NBA veteran who was previously the head coach of the NBA’s G League Ignite team) had been leading UK’s recruitment of Dybantsa, who was named the 2023 Gatorade Massachusetts Boys Basketball Player of the Year following his freshman high school season.
Dybantsa — who has a greater than 7-foot wingspan and oozes basketball craft and intelligence — has won gold medals with USA Basketball at the 2023 FIBA Americas Under-16 Championship and this summer’s FIBA Under-17 Men’s World Cup.
He is already projected as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.
On the Nike EYBL circuit this spring and summer with Oakland Soldiers, Dybantsa averaged nearly 23 points per game and tallied a runner-up finish at Peach Jam.
“These are the pillars that will define my choice for a program,” Dybantsa told ESPN about what will influence his college commitment. “(It needs to be) family-oriented, a winning program, offer development both on the court and in their strength program, and for me to be one-and-done and ready to impact.”
UK is recruiting Dybantsa’s former high school, AAU teammate
While Kentucky is set to miss out on Dybantsa, the Wildcats are still pursuing a former teammate of his at both the high school and grassroots basketball levels.
Dybantsa was teammates at both Prolific Prep (California) and with Oakland Soldiers with Tyran Stokes, a Louisville native who is the top-ranked prospect in the 2026 group.
UK and Pope are recruiting Stokes, a 6-foot-7, 245-pound power forward who lived in Louisville until age 9.
The Dybantsa-Stokes duo played together in Louisville last year when Prolific Prep took part in the Derek Smith Invitational at Saint Xavier High School.
But, the two players will now be going their separate ways. While Dybantsa moved from Prolific Prep to Utah Prep this offseason, Stokes will now be playing high school basketball at Notre Dame in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Sherman Oaks.
This story was originally published August 2, 2024 at 4:34 PM.
