The star freshman is making a strong case as the best player in the country as the Cougars have moved on to the quarterfinals
Mar 12, 2026 at 11:26 am ET • 1 min read
In the same week in which he watched somebody else win Big 12 Player of the Year honors, BYU star AJ Dybantsa showed once again on Wednesday that he's the best player in the Big 12 ... and maybe also the entire country.
Final score: BYU 68, West Virginia 48.
So the Cougars are now off to the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament, where they'll meet a different group of Cougars (Houston) in a game scheduled to tip at 7 p.m. ET at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City. But the A-Block story here is Dybantsa, the 6-foot-9 wing who once again scored in a way that has some smart basketball people now insisting he's actually the freshman NBA franchises would be crazy to pass on (rather than Kansas star Darryn Peterson).
That's what Dybantsa got against West Virginia one day after putting 40 on Kansas State. He's now averaging 25.2 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists while shooting 51.7% from the field. He's been incredible. And I absolutely loved the way he answered a question earlier this week about Arizona's Jaden Bradley being named Big 12 Player of the Year.
If not, it's worth your time:
As a fan of an NBA franchise that will be picking in the lottery, let the record show my neighbors and me would be thrilled if Dybantsa moved south to Memphis in June. Either way, BYU is up to No. 25 in Thursday morning's updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings, which pushed Tennessee down to No. 26, no fault of its own.
