BROCKTON, Mass. — The primary time AJ Dybantsa obtained paid for basketball, he didn’t need the cash.
When the nation’s prime recruit was named Massachusetts Gatorade Participant of the Yr as a highschool freshman, it got here with a money prize: $1,000. That was some huge cash for a 14-year-old who insists he didn’t even get good at basketball till a yr earlier than.
For an adolescent, that may go towards video video games, sneakers and even his future. However Dybantsa didn’t need it for himself. As a substitute, he thought of Brazzaville.
He first visited his father Ace’s hometown, the capital of Congo, when he was 4. Ace and his spouse, Chelsea, used the journey to provide their son perspective on their life again in Brockton and the significance of giving again to the neighborhood.
So, when the Gatorade verify arrived, Dybantsa didn’t know what to do with it. Conserving it didn’t really feel proper.
“Do it to your coronary heart,” Ace informed his son. “Don’t take the cash. That can come later.”
Ever since then, the 17-year-old Dybantsa has achieved issues otherwise.
“Don’t take something without any consideration,” Dybantsa informed The Athletic just lately. “Persons are much less lucky and don’t have what we have now. If I proceed this route, I’m going to get much more cash than that. So, I’d as effectively simply donate (that verify) again to the neighborhood.”
Identify, picture and likeness (NIL) rights have remodeled American beginner sports activities, and Dybantsa has been Poseidon using this monetary wave. He was the third male basketball participant to signal a sneaker take care of Nike whereas nonetheless taking part in in highschool after which turned the latest face of Crimson Bull quickly thereafter. Dybantsa rose towards the highest of his class at St. Sebastian’s, a Boston-area faculty, after which turned the most popular teenage free agent within the sport when he signed profitable offers with Prolific Prep (Calif.) as a junior after which Utah Prep as a senior.
Ace had a plan for his children, AJ, Jasmyn and Samarra, earlier than they have been even born, getting a job as a police officer at Boston College so they might get free tuition. However after they turned out to be promising athletes, their plans modified.
“AJ, when he was in sixth grade, he mentioned, ‘Dad, I’m not going to BU,’ ” Ace recalled with amusing. “I mentioned, ‘God dammit!’ ”
AJ anticipated to make use of the vast majority of this season to check all his school choices and decide earlier than March Insanity. He had blue bloods Kansas and North Carolina in his remaining 4, however Alabama and BYU have been proper there with them. Then, simply earlier than Thanksgiving, Dybantsa informed his dad and mom it was time. He was able to commit after catching a BYU sport in individual Nov. 16.
Dybantsa will doubtless arrive in Provo, Utah, because the presumptive No. 1 choose within the 2026 NBA Draft, unequivocally the most important star in school basketball for a yr.
“He’s what the NBA is searching for,” mentioned a NBA front-office govt, who was granted anonymity so they might converse freely. “Wings with authentic dimension that perceive the sport, can create offense after which, in principle, can guard a number of guys.”
When Dybantsa donated the Gatorade verify to the native Boys & Women Membership as a highschool freshman, he presumed that cash coming later could be as soon as he shook NBA commissioner Adam Silver’s hand on draft night time. However NIL exploded in a single day, and Dybantsa was the star of the bidding struggle that has outlined this new period of school basketball.
AJ Dybantsa meets a younger fan at a faculty in his hometown of Brockton, MA. (Jared Weiss / The Athletic)
The irony was he had no thought how a lot he was making. Ace’s job was to deal with the enterprise aspect; AJ’s job was books and ball.
“Folks simply gonna speak, however I (didn’t) even understand how a lot I’m getting. They simply inform my dad all of that,” Dybantsa mentioned. “I’m making an attempt to make it to the NBA, so wherever they’ll get me the quickest there with one of the best growth, there’s a complete lot of pillars that include it. Cash’s going to return if I do the work, so I’m not nervous in regards to the cash in a yr.”
‘Ain’t no Plan B’
In the future early in Dybantsa’s junior season, he was towering over a bunch of elementary faculty college students whereas visiting a category in his hometown. The kids are in awe of this gigantic child who isn’t that a lot older than them.
Most of them don’t precisely know who he’s, however they know he’s any individual. Dybantsa was the one trying as much as individuals, however now they give the impression of being as much as him.
“It’s a superb feeling. Basketball was funner when there was nothing happening after we have been all 10 years previous,” Dybantsa mentioned. “No one obtained ability, all people’s the identical. It was far more enjoyable. However now individuals decide you for who you might be. The identical individuals who hate on you’re the similar individuals within the stands making an attempt to ask for an image. The sport’s nonetheless enjoyable, however it’s completely different now.”
As soon as he’s strolling again to his dad’s automotive, the dynamic shifts again to regular. Ace tells AJ he must go residence, do his homework and make some lunch. He has to scrub his room, even when he solely visits for just a few days a month.
“I inform AJ on a regular basis, you might be No. 1 within the nation, however in my home, you ain’t No. 1,” Ace says with a giant smile. “When the coach yells at him, I say, ‘AJ, I really like you, don’t I?’ He says, ‘Sure, you do.’ When the coach yells at you, he loves you. He desires you to right what you’re doing improper.”
Ace’s favourite tales to recall are of all of the occasions he known as his son’s coaches and informed them to “bench his ass” as a result of AJ didn’t uphold his dad and mom’ lofty requirements. In sixth grade, AJ didn’t make the consideration roll. Ace informed the coach they have been driving to New Jersey for a match, however his son was not taking part in in both of their video games.
“The coach checked out me and mentioned, ‘You’re actually gonna drive six hours?’ ” Ace mentioned. “I informed him, ‘You heard what I mentioned.’ ”
Once they arrived on the health club, Dybantsa went to heat up simply as he at all times does, however then his coach approached and whispered one thing in his ear. Dybantsa spent the sport watching from the sideline. However for the second sport, the coach determined the punishment was sufficient.
Lesson realized, at the very least by his normal. However not Ace’s.
“So, on the drive residence, I (informed AJ), ‘Subsequent time, I received’t even hassle bringing you to the match,’ ” Ace mentioned. “Ever since then, honor roll.”
AJ (left) and Ace Dybantsa (proper) collectively in January 2024. (Jared Weiss / The Athletic)
The youthful Dybantsa brings up the phrase “sugarcoating” usually. He’s criticized by his dad day-after-day, so criticism from his coaches and the general public doesn’t part him.
“In case you get sugarcoated your complete life, you ain’t ever gonna get higher,” Dybantsa mentioned. “(My dad) being powerful on me and my sisters has impacted us in a manner. Everyone desires one thing handed to them, however we all know life just isn’t gonna work like that.”
He has an aversion to sweets now. Inform him like it’s, and he can work with that. Ask anybody who has been round Dybantsa about what makes him particular, and it’ll take some time earlier than you hear about his sport.
“AJ is the full package deal on and off the ground,” mentioned Ryan Bernardi, his coach at Prolific Prep. “He’s extraordinarily respectful, he’s charismatic, nice persona. … I imagine these traits have been instilled in him by his dad and mom.”
Passing at all times got here naturally to Dybantsa, as he claims that he’s simply now studying tips on how to be a real scorer. Bernardi and Ace have been continuously on him for not being aggressive sufficient in pursuing his shot whereas at Prolific. The youthful Dybantsa at all times maintains the very last thing he desires is to be often known as a ball hog.
“My mindset won’t ever be simply scoring. I’m at all times going to cross,” Dybantsa mentioned. “There’s by no means going to be a sport the place I’ve zero assists. I like ensuring that everyone eats.”
What makes Dybantsa such a tantalizing prospect is that he’s already such a whole participant, a former middle turned playmaking wing. His mix of stability, IQ, ability and explosiveness make him probably the most promising gamers to enter school this century. Dybantsa was measured throughout his September go to to Kansas at 6-foot-8 1/2 in socks with a 7-1 wingspan, in response to Ace. His peak is up half an inch from the start of the yr.
He’s a gazelle attacking the rim and might pull up over anybody from each spot on the ground, levitating to a peak the place contests are merely options that luck ought to intervene on the protection’s behalf. Dybantsa’s passing reads out of pick-and-rolls are a few of the finest at his place. He’s a brick wall on protection, flipping his hips to steer drivers extra easily than gamers half his dimension. There may be a lot room for enchancment, however the holes in his sport are measured at a molecular degree.
When Boston-area ability coach Brandon Ball first began shaping Dybantsa’s sport, most of his pupils labored out twice a day throughout the summer time. However Dybantsa, then 14, was completely different. It reminded Ball of his star consumer Terrence Clarke, who was one of many prime gamers within the nation on the time, earlier than dying in a automotive accident.
Dybantsa would arrive on the health club at 6 a.m., and they’d work on constructing his ability set. He would carry weights at 9 a.m. after which return to the health club to work on his jumper at midday. He would have a sport at 6 p.m., which must be the top of it. However no, another exercise on the ground postgame.
“Most children can’t do 3 times a day, however he has nice physique language at each single cease,” Ball mentioned. “He understood the mission early, and Terrence was the identical manner. The child’s work ethic is completely different.”
Most children that age have lives exterior the health club. Not Dybantsa. He proudly claims he doesn’t do something exterior of ball and faculty. Ask him what his hobbies are, they’re basketball and basketball. There’s a purpose BYU’s extra buttoned-up campus tradition wasn’t a deterrent for him.
There’s a commonality to most gamers who maximize their careers within the NBA. They have been those who have been getting in additional work whereas their friends have been taking part in video video games or going to the flicks. They have been taught one thing on the courtroom as soon as after which can do it an hour later as in the event that they’ve identified it their complete life.
As Dybantsa grew and shortly turned top-of-the-line gamers within the nation, it cemented his unwavering perception that basketball was going to be his future, not that anybody who knew him was questioning it at that time.
“My life motto is ‘Ain’t no Plan B. I plan who I’m presupposed to be,’ ” Dybantsa mentioned. “Folks at all times ask me if I’ve a Plan B. Nah, I don’t.”
Prince of the NIL revolution
A yr in the past, Dybantsa had by no means heard of Utah Prep. Few individuals had.
It’s a reclamation challenge of a defunct faculty that relocated to Hurricane, Utah, however it’s not pronounced hurricane. Ask an area to clarify its Scouse roots so that you can perceive.
Shortly after becoming a member of a star-studded roster at Prolific Prep, an Adidas faculty, Dybantsa signed a take care of Nike that ends earlier than his school profession begins. Now that NIL has made each highschool offseason a free-agency interval, Prolific knew there was a superb likelihood Dybantsa was heading off to a Nike program for his senior yr. Enter Utah Prep.
“For everybody concerned, this was a primary of its form,” Bernardi mentioned. “A brand new precedent had been set, and we’re all making an attempt to determine it out because it goes. I feel the mindset of ‘What’s your provide’ has been the most important change and you must make faster selections.”
BYU donors facilitated an April go to to the varsity for Ace and Chelsea earlier than they took a visit all the way down to Provo to see the school’s campus. That was after they first met incoming BYU coach Kevin Younger, who was then the highest assistant for the Phoenix Suns however traveled out of Arizona in the midst of a playoff sequence to host the go to.
Dybantsa cheers with BYU pupil followers throughout a latest sport in Provo, Utah. (Chris Gardner / Getty Pictures)
Utah Prep reportedly provided Ace $600,000 and an possession stake within the fledgling program, in response to the Salt Lake Tribune. Achieved deal. AJ visited, noticed the mountains within the distance and signed up for the transfer. There was nothing else to do there, which is simply how he preferred it.
When Dybantsa was requested why he didn’t attend one of many iconic highschool packages like Montverde Academy in Florida — which reportedly provided $1 million for AJ’s senior season — he defined how he needed to do issues otherwise.
“Montverde, we will use them for instance, I’m making an attempt to point out individuals you don’t need to go to a faculty like that to perform sure issues,” AJ mentioned. “They’re an incredible faculty, and so they’ve obtained essentially the most league guys from highschool. So, there’s no knock going there. However you don’t have to go to a faculty like that.”
Nearly each main NBA agent recruited AJ, however Ace determined to proceed to handle his profession whereas bringing on Shaquille O’Neal’s former agent, Leonard Armato, as an adviser.
Ace negotiates provides, goes to Armato for his enter, involves AJ for his choice, and a alternative is then made. Companies have been capitalizing on the NIL gold rush however usually cost charges upwards of 20 %, considerably greater than their minimize on NBA contracts. Ace has grow to be a grasp schmooze and thrives on this new gig.
Experiences have pegged Dybantsa’s NIL package deal to be price round $7 million, although individuals with data of the negotiations mentioned the quantity coming straight from BYU’s NIL collective is nearer to $5 million. Within the early phases of the NIL period, there’s some ambiguity as to what defines an precise take care of the varsity.
The NCAA doesn’t straight regulate NIL because the market has been formed by courtroom selections over the previous a number of years. The proposed Home v. NCAA settlement in October has cleared the best way for a revenue-sharing mannequin from the faculties to the gamers that might go into impact as quickly as July 2025. However the gamers aren’t staff and there’s no union, so there is no such thing as a collective bargaining to ascertain an agreed-upon system.
Dybantsa’s position within the recruitment was to get the solutions he wanted for his profession. He requested coaches for his or her imaginative and prescient of constructing an offense by way of him and the way he would deliver successful to their group. He didn’t simply need to understand how the pinnacle coach operates, however what his restoration and dietary program would appear to be. He desires to be a professional earlier than he’s technically a professional.
The decision that sealed the deal was from Kevin Durant, who performed for Younger in Phoenix. All Dybantsa needed was to emulate Durant’s path to greatness, so he was offered on Younger being his information.
“You don’t need to simply signal with any individual. You need to be companions with them,” Dybantsa mentioned. “There’s much more to a proposal than simply cash. Folks solely see the cash a part of it, however it’s not nearly cash.”
Within the late phases of his recruitment, AJ and Younger have been talking straight whereas Ace was dealing with negotiations with the faculties. Ultimately, Alabama and North Carolina matched BYU’s provide, unbeknownst to AJ.
Even when Dybantsa first knowledgeable his father in late November he was able to decide to BYU, Ace saved the concentrate on basketball and didn’t reveal the worth tag. Ace informed his son to assume it over whereas the elder Dybantsa paid one final go to to UNC.
When Ace returned, AJ was totally locked in on BYU. They known as the varsity and signed the paperwork earlier than Ace lastly informed AJ how a lot the NIL market decided he was price.
AJ’s response?
“Wow.”
‘I’m not gonna change’
At Dybantsa’s video games, the baseline underneath the opposing group’s basket is lined shoulder to shoulder with each younger photographer and videographer making an attempt to interrupt into the large leagues, identical to him. When the groups swap baskets at halftime, there’s a mad rush of swinging tripods to get one of the best spot on the opposite aspect of the health club.
The times of strolling the streets in solitude are coming to an finish. He’s already changing into immediately recognizable.
“(He’s) making an attempt to navigate being the principle character and understanding how a lot individuals look as much as him and can observe him,” Bernardi mentioned. “I feel his constant vocal presence will probably be a giant key for him as he turns into an incredible chief.”
When he returned to Boston for a sport along with his new faculty, Utah Prep, each set of eyes is fastidiously careening his manner. His aura captures the entire enviornment now. Except for the blinged-out chain round his neck, he nonetheless carries himself like no person is watching.
“I’m not gonna change. They could,” Dybantsa mentioned. “There are some individuals I do know that grow to be well-known and alter their complete persona. They need to have this lavish life-style, however I simply follow who I’m, and I feel individuals mess with that.”
Dybantsa plans to return to Boston in January to see household, and so they’ve already scheduled a shoe giveaway to an area highschool. He by no means comes residence empty-handed.
He’ll return as one of many highest-paid beginner basketball gamers in American historical past. Ace has been working the present whereas his son focuses on basketball and being a child. Ultimately, AJ can construct his empire as he climbs the ladder to NBA stardom.
Attending to the large stage isn’t the onerous half. Separating your self is. Ace is aware of he received’t have a lot luck telling a nationally famend school coach to bench his son as a result of he didn’t get again on protection. These days are over.
That’s why AJ joined a program the place he’ll be handled the identical manner since he was little. Ace has no alternative however to provide it a break and belief his son is prepared, so long as AJ nonetheless cleans his room when he comes residence. Some issues may by no means change.
“He’s in all probability going to right me, however he’s not going to be yelling at me,” AJ mentioned. “Nicely … he may.”
(Illustration: Meech Robinson / The Athletic; prime photographs: Barry Chin / The Boston Globe through Getty Pictures; Jim Poorten, Altan Gocher, Hans Lucas, Ezra Shaw / Getty Pictures)