BYU star AJ Dybantsa joined ESPN’s SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt
Mar 18, 2026, 11:11 PM | Updated: Mar 19, 2026, 9:39 am
PORTLAND, Ore. – BYU basketball star AJ Dybantsa is no stranger to the spotlight.
On Wednesday, during open practice day at the Moda Center for the NCAA Tournament, a camera crew followed the Big 12 Freshman of the Year everywhere he went as BYU prepares to take on Texas in the First Round of March Madness.
BYU’s AJ Dybantsa joined SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt
That attention continued into the evening on Wednesday as Dybantsa made his debut appearance on ESPN’s SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt.
AJ Dybantsa on SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt. pic.twitter.com/O2ZMYIqkxm
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) March 19, 2026
Some of the topics from Van Pelt to Dybantsa included navigating the gauntlet of the Big 12, competing with the talented freshman class this season in college basketball, and what he enjoys about being a freshman at BYU.
“Being a student at BYU is definitely fun,” Dybantsa said to Scott Van Pelt. “I did a lot of my classes in person, actually. So I’m like, in three in-person classes, and I just be sitting on the front row just trying to interact with people. I do group activities and group projects, it’s fun.”
Van Pelt then drew a comparison between Dybantsa and NBA superstar Kevin Durant.
Then they closed out the interview by discussing how Dybantsa views the runway ahead of him and his BYU team at the NCAA Tournament, starting with a Round of 64 matchup against Texas.
“I just trust our team,” Dybantsa said on ESPN. “I trust my teammates, follow the game, and you know, just be ourselves, stick to our identity, and we should be good for six.”
Earlier this week, Dybantsa was named a First Team All-American by the Associated Press, U.S. Basketball Writers Association, and the NABC.
Dybantsa enters the NCAA Tournament as the nation’s leading scorer at 25.3 points per game.
Kevin Young is impressed with how AJ Dybantsa handles the spotlight
While all the attention Dybantsa generates from his high level of play has impressed BYU head coach Kevin Young, the star freshman hasn’t let it affect his on-court game.
“If I felt like the cameras and this and that were a distraction, I would be a little bit more hesitant to welcome some of that stuff around,” said BYU head coach Kevin Young on all of the attention with Dybantsa. “As I said, I think he handles it all really well. He’s a mature kid. I don’t even call him a kid. He doesn’t seem like a kid. He seems like a grown man, honestly.
“Just the way he handles himself gives me a lot of confidence that he’s able to understand that that comes with the territory in terms of the caché that he has. But it never really affects his ability to go out and perform in the game. In some ways, I think it actually helps him perform better, to be honest with you.”
(6) BYU vs. (11) Texas
2026 NCAA Tournament – First Round
Date: Thursday, March 19, 2026
Location: Moda Center (Portland, Oregon)
Tip-off: 5:25 p.m. (MDT)/4:25 p.m. (PDT)
TV: TBS
Radio: KSL NewsRadio (102.7 FM, 1160 AM only) — Pregame begins at 4:30 p.m. (MT)
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for KSL and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast daily on KSL Sports YouTube and KSL NewsRadio (SUBSCRIBE). Harper also co-hosts Cougar Sports Saturday (12–3 p.m.) on KSL NewsRadio.
Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYUathletics in the Big 12 Conference on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram: @Mitch_Harper.
