BENSALEM, Pa. – The nation’s top high school boys basketball prospect and is on the move again.
A.J. Dybantsa, a 6 foot 9, 200-pound freakish athlete, announced today on social media, he is transferring to Utah Prep of Hurricane, Utah from nationally ranked Prolific Prep (Napa, Calif.) for his senior year. Dybantsa, a native of Brockton, Massachusetts, also spent a year at St. Sebastian’s School (Needham, Mass.) before heading out west and reclassifying to Class of 2025.
Regardless, Dybantsa is tearing up the Nike EYBL summer circuit with the Oakland (Calif.) Soldiers, and fields offers from programs such as Alabama, Kentucky, Arkansas, Auburn, North Carolina, UConn, Utah, Baylor, USC and Washington. Recently, he announced on a recruiting website that he will pare his list of suitors at the Nike Peach Jam in North August, Georgia in July. He’ll visit schools after the summertime.
If you aren’t familiar with Utah Prep, it was originally created as Real Salt Lake Basketball Academy from the Salt Lake City area but two years ago, it rebranded and left the original organization when the owners purchased the Major League Soccer franchise Real Salt Lake. According to a report, the move was due to NBA regulations not allowing any league owners to operate basketball organizations beneath the NBA’s G League level.
For the last two years, the program operated with fifth-year players and even played exhibitions against junior colleges.
Utah Prep is sanctioned by the Utah High School Athletic Association but won’t compete for state championship but instead eyeing the prestigious CHIPOTLE High School Nationals that were contested in Brownsburg, Indiana in April.
Last season, Dybantsa helped Prolific Prep, No. 7 in the Blue Star Media Elite 25 final rankings, to a 33-6 record and the Grind Session World Championship. The Crew also lost to No. 10 Link Academy (Branson, Mo.), 80-76, in double overtime in the CHIPOTLE Nationals quarterfinals. Dybantsa produced 21 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists in the loss.
According to reports, Utah Prep has relocated about 280 miles into southern Utah to a shuttered school previously known as Diamond Ranch Academy, a residential teen treatment center.
Could Utah Prep earn admission into the Nike EYBL Scholastic with the likes of No. 1 Monteverde (Fla.) Academy, Long Island Lutheran (Brookville, N.Y.), Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) and IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.)?
Probably not because Utah Prep is in the Grind Session but the CHIPOTLE Nationals is in play.
