HS star moves to '25 class, eyes NBA No. 1 in '26
-
Jeff Borzello, ESPN Staff Writer
A.J. Dybantsa, the No. 1 prospect in the 2026 recruiting class and one of the top players in all of high school basketball, plans to reclassify to the 2025 class, he announced Wednesday.
Dybantsa, who made the announcement on Instagram, will compete with Cameron Boozer for the No. 1 ranking in the junior class and becomes the likely favorite to be the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NBA draft.
Dybantsa’s potential reclassification has been a topic of conversation in recruiting circles for several months, as he will turn 17 in January and is six months older than Boozer. He becomes the second elite high school prospect to reclassify in recent months, following Cooper Flagg‘s decision to move to the 2024 class.
The 6-foot-8 wing from Brockton, Massachusetts, attends Prolific Prep (California) and is one of the best scorers in high school basketball. Despite playing up an age group at the Nike Peach Jam in July, Dybantsa led the event in scoring, averaging 25.8 points in five games with the Expressions program.
He started all six games at the FIBA U16 Americas Championship, averaging 13.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, 3.8 assists and shooting 69.4% inside the arc. Dybantsa also led the NBPA Top 100 Camp in scoring at 28.3 points in six games in Orlando in June.
Over the summer, ESPN asked 20 college coaches and NBA scouts to rank the Flagg-Dybantsa-Boozer trio as prospects, and Dybantsa finished second to Flagg, receiving seven first-place votes and finishing lower than second on just four ballots.
“Dybantsa is more in the mold of what the elite NBA players typically look like — versatile guards in that 6-foot-6 [to] 6-foot-8 range that you build your franchise around,” one coach said at the time. “Kobe [Bryant], [Tracy] McGrady, [Grant] Hill, [Jayson] Tatum, Kawhi [Leonard], Paul George. He has the potential to be in that mold.”
Added another coach: “Dybantsa is just the most complete. Scores at all three levels. Super athletic. He’s the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft whenever he goes.”
