LAS VEGAS (AP) — Thought to be one of many nation’s high freshmen, BYU’s AJ Dybantsa already had a reasonably good concept of the vitality basketball followers in Las Vegas present as he ready for his collegiate debut.
It was over the summer season when Dybantsa sat within the entrance row close to middle courtroom to see the Las Vegas Aces and felt the vibe at Michelob Extremely Area inside Mandalay Bay, throughout what turned out to be the staff’s third WNBA championship marketing campaign in 4 years.
The 18-year-old Dybantsa created his personal electrical energy up the road on Monday night time in entrance of greater than 16,000 followers inside T-Cell Area — a majority of whom wore BYU blue — as he completed with 21 factors and 6 rebounds to steer the eighth-ranked Cougars to a 71-66 win over Villanova within the Corridor of Fame Sequence.
“I knew that the Aces have a huge fan base, so I wasn’t really actually expecting it to be like what it was, but they show great support, and I love Vegas for that,” Dybantsa stated. “We have BYU fans everywhere, and they show support. It was damn near a home game for us, the amount of fans that were there. So I’m just very grateful for the fans and the Mormon community to show support.”
Dybantsa, who did a lot of his harm within the second half by scoring 13 factors to assist fend off Villanova’s late surge, together with six factors throughout a 10-0 BYU run that erased a two-point deficit and gave the Cougars a 67-59 lead with 1:50 left.
“He’s one of the best high school players I’ve seen come out in a long time,” Villanova coach Kevin Willard stated. “He’s the real deal.”
Taking on a sport is nothing new for Dybantsa, who was named MVP of the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup after main Workforce USA to a gold medal in Switzerland in July.
“USA all the time helps,” said Dybantsa, who added that enrolling at BYU in April benefited him, as he was able to become familiar with his future teammates. “You’ve bought to discover a position, the practices are tremendous aggressive, (so) it positively helped.”
The Boston-area native stated watching and speaking to WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson, NaLyssa Smith and coach Becky Hammon additionally helped him respect a distinct perspective.
“I’m trying to get more on the WNBA side, definitely,” Dybantsa stated. “I mean, they got a lot of talent. A’ja, doing what she’s doing. Just trying to tap in a little bit, get as much knowledge.”
