AJ Dybantsa was selected with the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft on Tuesday night.
The Washington Wizards selected DeBancha over Kansas guard Darin Peterson and Duke forward Cameron Boozer, while the Utah Jazz and Memphis Grizzlies took second and third, respectively.
Dybantsa is a forward who led the nation in scoring after one season at Brigham Young University. He averaged 25.5 points, highlighted by a 43-point effort that broke BYU’s freshman scoring record, and was the first of a record-tying eight consecutive college freshmen taken to enter the draft.
The 6-foot-9, 217-pound Dybantsa, who grew up in the Washington area, has been compared to his favorite player, Kevin Durant.
“I was really confident, I had been betting on myself for a while,” Dybantsa said. “I had no intention of missing the draft because I had been the No. 1 pick since the ninth grade.”
Dybantsa grew up in the Washington area. (Photo: Gary Land/Red Bull Content Pool via AP)
Dybantsa’s full name is Anicet Francois Dybantsa Jr. He wore flag pins Tuesday for Jamaica and the Republic of Congo, where his mother and father live. Dybantsa was announced in the draft as Anicet in honor of his father.
“Making the NBA has been a dream of mine since I was little, so I can’t wait to get out there and start my life,” Dybantsa told NBA.com.
“He is a special person.” Wizards general manager Will Dawkins said: “I expect the city to really embrace him. He’s already started his own foundation giving back to people in Massachusetts, Jamaica, Africa. He’s really where he wants to be.
“He’s just a competitor,” Dawkins added. “He sees a challenge and he attacks it. I’ve seen that from a very young age to where he is now. He has the humility to know how good he is, but he wants to keep working so he can reach the highest level.”
