BOSTON, MA – NOVEMBER 15: AJ Dybantsa #3 of the BYU Cougars reacts after a made basket during the 2025 college Basketball Hall of Fame Series game between UConn Huskies and BYU Cougars on November 15, 2025, at TD Garden in Boston, MA. (Photo by M. Anthony Nesmith/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
A.J. Dybantsa knew what he was in for on Saturday. The promotion for the Hall of Fame Series Boston centered on the Brockton, Massachusetts, native getting the chance to play on the TD Garden parquet. The reality of the situation is that UConn Huskies fans were going to fill the stands in full force and make their presence felt throughout the evening.
“I kind of expected it. I’ve seen all over social media that they were gonna have a whiteout here,” said Dybantsa after nearly leading the BYU Cougars to a come-from-behind victory after trailing by 20 points in the second half. “I know that they’re known for traveling. UConn’s not that far away, but I knew they were gonna come travel. I knew it was gonna be loud.”
There was also plenty of hometown support for Dybantsa. That included family, friends, and Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown, who cheered him on from courtside. And from Utah to Kansas and Washington D.C., BYU fans traveled from across the country to see their team play at TD Garden.
Still, there were “overrated” chants, booing when his name got called at the end of player introductions, and raucuous eruptions nearly every time the Huskies scored. While this was a homecoming for Dybantsa, and it was an electric atmosphere, there was no mistaking which side had a louder and larger contingency.
Maintaining his composure throughout the matchup, he relished it all.
“It was exciting. Definitely some familiar faces in the crowd,” Dybantsa told Forbes of his experience on the TD Garden parquet. “It was good. It was a good atmosphere.”
In the first 25 minutes of Saturday night’s matchup, the UConn crowd was having a party. The Huskies shot 57 percent from the field in the opening half, produced 22 points in the paint, and put 43 points on the board.
Conversely, Dybantsa struggled at the start of his homecoming. He entered intermission 1/6 with four points; his team trailing by double-digits.
It turns out those struggles set the stage for a dazzling display that only a star is capable of in the second half.
A.J. Dybantsa showcases what makes him special
Even when he wasn’t performing well in the first half, it was evident that the Cougars’ star wing was the best athlete and most talented player on the floor. After the intermission, it became impossible for anyone to miss.
Dybantsa put on a show for his home crowd, knocking down contested fadeaways, step-back jumpers, and muscling his way to the rim. There was also a demonstration of elite footwork as he attacked fellow Massachusetts native Alex Karaban off the dribble.
The former drove into the middle of the paint, pump-faked, then pivoted back the other way and laid the ball in off the glass with his left hand. It was perhaps the most impressive demonstration of his skill, smoothness, and athleticism in a singular play on Saturday.
Dybantsa registered 21 of his 25 points in the second half, converting on seven of the eight shots he hoisted. That included burying a three off the bounce to bring BYU within three with 30 seconds left.
Ultimately, the Huskies held on for an 86-84 win. But the star of the night was the hometown kid at the heart of why a game on the verge of becoming a blowout victory for UConn turned into a tilt the No. 3 team had to fight to finish.
“You’re guarding maybe the best offensive player in college basketball, the potential No. 1 pick,” Huskies head coach Dan Hurley said after the win. “Once he got it going, that’s what players that are as special as him start doing.”
When asked about what fueled him as he put his first-half struggles behind him and took over in the final 14 minutes, Dybantsa told Forbes the key was “Just being calm. I had coach KY [Kevin Young], coach JL [John Linehan], telling me, ‘It’ll come to you. Don’t try to force it,’ and that’s what I did.”
Dan Hurley and Kevin Young’s praise for A.J. Dybantsa
When the matchup ended, Hurley shared an embrace with the 18-year-old star who had nearly handed his team its first loss of the season. While sharing what he told him, UConn’s bench boss explained the maturation he has seen from studying Dybantsa.
“Just the growth, I mean, and his approach,” Hurley told Forbes. “Sometimes you watch these kids, they come into college, these high draft picks. It’s been over the course of years and years and years. You can see on film the entitlement, the spoiled entitlement, the not guarding. The not being about team, and so you’re on a lead-up, watching the film, like, I think maybe in the Nebraska scrimmage, or the Nebraska exhibition, was a couple [of] possessions where he was kind of leaking a little bit. Like leaking out, not getting on the glass, but then, I’m watching the evolution, from game-to-game to tonight, and this guy’s out there guarding. He’s on the backboard, he’s communicating with his teammates, and he’s playing with a level of desperation to win the game.
“For a guy that’s going to be maybe the No. 1 pick, it’s just a little refreshing to see the guy and the mental toughness. I mean, his first half was a mess, and for him to be able to put that behind him, back home, and put that second-half performance on was as good as you’ll see from a freshman. And I told him that.”
Dybantsa’s athleticism, length, and skill are what generate the hype that earns a player top billing in their class. However, as Hurley articulated, his maturity and the composure that were on display in Saturday’s Hall of Fame Series event are what can propel him to maximize his talent.
“He’s a mature young man. Has come in and not made it all about himself, but at the same time, has been able to deliver in big moments for us,” BYU’s head coach Kevin Young voiced about Dybantsa’s mental makeup from the post-game podium.
“The way he goes about his business, I really respect it. I think he’s a very mature young man. And obviously, the talent is on full display, but what’s more impressive is how he goes about his business,” continued Young, who worked with NBA stars ranging from Kevin Durant and Chris Paul to Devin Booker, Joel Embiid, and Jimmy Butler while working as an assistant in the Association.
“I’ve been around some of the greatest players that this game’s ever had, and they all have the same thing in common in terms of how they go about their approach and how much they’re a student of the game, and how hard they want to be coached, and I see a lot of similarities in his mentality.”