The Marriott Center just witnessed AJ Dybantsa put on a show. With an outing of 26 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, and 5 steals, the BYU star cemented his name as a top prospect for the NBA draft. But his coach, Kevin Young, believes his name should be kept at the top of the list, above everyone else. This was made clear by Young in the postgame press conference after his team had a 47-point win over UC Riverside.

“It speaks to just how special a player he is. The size, the handle, the IQ, the athleticism, it’s just a total package. It is. It’s hard to coach it. There aren’t many players like that in the world of basketball, period, regardless of age. Just super glad that obviously he’s on our team. We all get to see it on a night-in, night-out basis,” said Young after the game about Dybantsa.

Dybantsa delivered his season-best performance this game, showcasing strong command on both ends of the court. Despite this, Young feels he’s not getting the flowers he deserves. The BYU coach made a strong remark on critics constantly overlooking Dybantsa.

As he puts it, “It’s almost like people forgot about this guy. You hear all this stuff about all these other guys, and I know I’m biased because I’m around him all day. And then he did what he did on court, ‘Oh yeah, this guy might be the number one pick.’ And it’s like, don’t forget about the guy.”

With this remark, Young took shots at critics for overlooking his star player from the list of top prospects. While Young’s comments carry weight, it is somehow what Dybantsa wanted with his college career. Everyone remembers the likes of Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, UConn, Duke, Kentucky, USC, and more lining up with offers for young AJ Dybantsa.

But he chose BYU, stating his biggest priority was the desire to play basketball without much off-court attention. Now, as that is happening, a downside to that is that he sometimes misses out on the attention he deserves. Dybantsa’s game, on the other hand, lands him right back as the top-rated player for the NBA draft.

At the end of the day, Dybantsa’s future is bright in the professional basketball scene. And his head coach realizes the importance of his star player. Young concluded his comments on the 18-year-old with, “We’re going to win a lot of games because of how good he is. But it’s more about he’s good because he’s talented, but he’s a team guy. They’re hard to find, man. They’re really hard to find.”

After a statement win over UC Riverside, BYU does not have any high-profile matchups left for December. Their next major test comes in the last week of January and the first week of February. They will face the likes of Texas Tech, Arizona, Kansas, and Houston in quick succession during that time period. But Young and Dybantsa have a strategy prepared for that.

AJ Dybantsa and Kevin Young believe a strong offense is the way to go for BYU

In the 47-point win over UC Riverside, one thing was on full display throughout the game: strong offense with ball movement. BYU coach shed more light on this strategy post game, stating, “Yeah, it’s just a blend of like having really good individual talent and still trying to have a blend of that identity of ball movement, body movement. It’s just hard to guard.”

This strong offense was on display since the first half, with BYU outscoring opponents 49-32. They added 51 points in the second, while limiting their opponents to just 21 more points. After the game, AJ Dybantsa shared what the BYU locker room had prepped beforehand. “It was just out mentality. KY [Kevin Young] was just telling us not to have that second-half mentality. Bring that second-half mentality in the first half.”

That was exactly what BYU did. It looks like they will continue to build upon this strong offense this month to prepare for the high-profile matchups coming their way. For now, BYU and AJ Dybantsa will face the Pacific Tigers next on Tuesday, December 16.