BYU freshman AJ Dybantsa, a projected top-three pick alongside Darryn Peterson and Cameron Boozer, dropped a bombshell during a recent interview with Deseret News .
“I might not leave college. I just gotta wait until the end of the season.””My mom wants me to graduate. So, I might not leave, but I might leave. The fans get in my head, talk about one more year, maybe three more years, I don’t know. But I’m going to have to talk to my mom” .
He added that his mother wants him to get his degree because “as a mom, she’s thinking post-basketball, and, God forbid, if anything happens to me, I should always have a back-up plan” .
Dybantsa is currently leading the country in scoring, averaging 24.8 points per game while shooting 53% from the field and 36.3% from three-point range .
While Dybantsa is already earning millions through NIL, it’s nowhere near what he could make as a top draft pick. Last year’s No. 1 selection, Cooper Flagg, signed a four-year, $62.7 million contract with the Mavericks .
The comments sent social media into a frenzy with much of the mockery aimed directly at the Jazz, who’ve made tanking an art form this season.
“Will Hardy rn after tanking his teams entire season,” another commented, sharing a reaction GIF of the Jazz coach .“Bro saw the mock drafts was like f* that I’m going back to school,”** another fan wrote .
The NBA has been cracking down on tanking all season, with Commissioner Adam Silver calling it an “urgent competitive threat” .
Utah currently sits 13th in the Western Conference with an 18-40 record—exactly where a team tanking for a top pick wants to be .
Despite the trolling, Jazz fans haven’t given up hope. Rookie Ace Bailey, drafted fifth overall in 2025, recently responded to a Dybantsa Instagram comment with “Up next,”
“They can assume,” Dybantsa said of draft analysts. “I didn’t say anything” .