What a day to be a BYU fan!
On ESPN First Take AJ Dybantsa announced he’ll be joining the BYU Cougars next season. You can watch the announcement here:
Dybantsa mentioned that a big part of his decision was to play for Kevin Young who coached Kevin Durant.
Stephen A Smith asked him if he patterns his game after Kevin Durant. Dybantsa said that he considers his game a mix of Tracy McGrady and Shai (Gilgeous-Alexander).
Dybantsa mentions that his goal is a championship while going to BYU. Like I said, what a time to be a BYU fan. It’s not clear all the reasons for this choice, surely there has got to be some NIL involvement. One thing is for sure, Danny Ainge and Ryan Smith have to be excited to have such a prestigious athlete come to BYU. This is also a huge moment in Utah Sports. Not only is this the best college athlete to ever play in Utah, it’s also massive for the perception of Utah sports. More players may choose BYU now that Dybantsa has gone there. And this type of effect can bleed over to the Utah Jazz. With so many eyes on BYU, more people will see that this is a great place to be. That type of positive momentum can be huge in general and can elevate Utah out of some of the it receives. Some of those are fair, but many are not.
Whether you’re a Ute fan, a BYU fan, there’s no denying this is a great day in Utah Basketball history.