BYU signee AJ Dybantsa calls for votes to win the USA Basketball 5-on-5 Male Athlete of the Year honor 

The No. 1 prospect in the 2025 class, AJ Dybantsa will be starting his collegiate career with the BYU Cougars next season. However, he is already competing against some top NBA stars in the 2024 Annual Awards: 5-on-5 Male Athlete of the Year.

The Brockton, MA native took to his Instagram story to share a video posted by USA Basketball, showcasing some of Dybantsa's highlights in the US men's basketball team jersey. Dybantsa reshared the post on his IG story with a link to vote for him:

BYU signee AJ Dybantsa calls for votes to win the USA Basketball 5-on-5 Male Athlete of the Year honor

Check out the video below:

AJ Dybantsa is up against some serious competition from members of the Olympic gold medal-winning Team USA, and member of the FIBA U18 Men’s AmeriCup champion, Mikel Brown Jr.

From the NBA and Olympics squad, Dybantsa is up against four-time NBA Champions LeBron James and Stephen Curry and 14-time NBA All-Star Kevin Durant.

The Utah Prep player had six games with double-digit points, shot an impressive 58.7% and was named in the FIBA U17 All-Star 5 for Team USA. Furthermore, he averaged 14.1 points while shooting 58.7%, 4.1 assists and 3.9 rebounds in the tournament.

He broke out against France where he scored 19 points, grabbed five rebounds, stole the ball five times and had four assists.

AJ Dybantsa won the gold in the FIBA Under-16 Americas Championship in Merida, Mexico, also. In that tournament, he averaged 13.7 ppg and 3.8 apg with a team-high and personal best 23 points against Mexico.

Furthermore, the 6-foot-9 small forward also attended the 2022 Men's Junior National Team October minicamp in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He also went to the 2023 Men's Junior National Team April minicamp in Houston, Texas.

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AJ Dybantsa's advice from his father

Dybantsa was accompanied by his father, Ace Dybantsa, in a Q&A session on Andscape on Dec. 20. The senior Dybantsa stated that they got a NIL offer for $1 million but rejected that, with the father giving his son some advice:

"The third one, $900,000 to represent him. I’m like, ‘No.’ He said, ‘That’s almost a million dollars.’ ‘Why didn’t you just make it a cool million?’ What happen? I’m 56 years old. I was never a millionaire, not even once.

"He goes, ‘What’s your point?’ I said, ‘Well, if I waited 56 years, what is two more years?' He just looked at me, shook his head and walked away. And I told [AJ] you are not for sale, so when they come to you, think about it."

AJ Dybantsa will be joined by Xavion Staton and Chamberlain Burgess from the 2025 class at BYU next season.