Alabama men’s basketball was one of the finalists for AJ Dybantsa, but he ultimately chose BYU.
Dybantsa is the No. 1 overall recruit in the entire 2025 recruiting class, according to the 247Sports Composite. He’s a 6-9, 210-pound small forward who also had UNC and Kansas in his finalists.
Dybantsa announced his decision Tuesday on ESPN, but Dybantsa had already signed a financial aid agreement with BYU in November during the early signing period, a BYU basketball spokesperson told AL.com on Tuesday.
Dybantsa’s NIL package at BYU is believed to be a multi-million dollar deal, sources who have knowledge of the recruitment told AL.com. That’s big in football terms for NIL, even more so in the basketball world.
Dybantsa had a relationship with Alabama assistant Preston Murphy, the Crimson Tide’s top recruiter. Murphy had coached Dybantsa in AAU a few years back. Murphy had watched Dybantsa play as recent as this past week.
Dybantsa‘s father had also attended some of Alabama’s recent games, such as the UNC game in Chapel Hill, on Dec. 4, which was after the early signing period when Dybantsa signed his financial aid agreement with BYU.
Without Dybantsa, Alabama still has the No. 12 recruiting class in the country for 2025, per 247Sports. The Crimson Tide signed Davion Hannah, London Jemison and Amari Allen.
