"You know why Giannis (Antetokounmpo) looks the way he is": $3.8 million NIL-valued AJ Dybantsa introduces BYU coaching and support staff
High school phenom and BYU commit AJ Dybantsa provided a tour of the team's practice facility in Provo and introduced the team's coaching and support staff.
Dybantsa, whose NIL value is pegged at $3.8 million (per On3), walked around the facility and entered the weight room looking for strength and conditioning and sports science director, Michael Davie.
Dybantsa calls Davie the "Whiz" due to his decades-long experience as strength and conditioning coach for the Milwaukee Bucks, the British basketball team, the Australian swimming and diving team, and football team Brisbane Roar. Before he came to BYU, Davie worked for eight years with the Bucks and had a hand in the development of former NBA champion and two-time Most Valuable Player Giannis Antetokounmpo.
"We call him Whiz cuz he's really a wizard in this craft," Dybantsa said of Davie (Timestamp 5:36). "He just does everything like you know why Giannis (Antetokounmpo) looks the way he is? It's because of him."
The 18-year-old star also introduced BYU director of player development Jordan Brady, who said the team is excited to have the basketball phenom in Provo. In return, Dybantsa tells Brady he's also excited to work with him.
He also disclosed the team has six staff members with NBA experience and pointed to BYU analytics and strategy director Akash Sebastian, who worked for the Phoenix Suns and Utah Jazz as a coaching analyst and served as an intern for the Sacramento Kings.
Dybantsa climbed to the building's annex and went straight to the team's practice facility. He passed by the team's Wall of Fame, which had photos of Cougars' greats. He went straight to the graduate assistants' room, where he met Kyle Sturdivant and Charles Abouo.
The forward dropped by the coaches' room and met with the team's assistant coach Chris Burgess and chief of staff Doug Stewart. He also provided a glimpse of the team's practice facility and his locker before he headed to class.
AJ Dybantsa looks to help BYU make its first-ever Final Four
AJ Dybantsa will step inside Provo looking to help BYU make a statement in the 2025-26 season and boost his draft stock.
The projected No. 1 pick in the 2026 NBA draft chose the Cougars over Alabama, North Carolina and Kansas due to the program's NBA-influenced coaching staff.
BYU coach Kevin Young was an assistant coach for the Philadelphia 76ers and Phoenix Suns and previously handled NBA stars Kevin Durant and Devin Booker. AJ Dybantsa regarded Young as having a great deal of respect from people in the industry.
In a CBS report, Dybantsa's decision to commit to BYU was more of a culture fit for his family and for the sport. Though there was money involved, it's his peers and his future as a basketball player that were the main factors for the decision.
AJ Dybantsa is expected to lead BYU beginning this November, and the Cougars look to improve on their Sweet Sixteen finish last season and hope to make their first Final Four in history.