With the 2026 NCAA Tournament here, people can't stop talking about Duke and Cameron Boozer. We get it - the Blue Devils are among the favorites to win it all and Boozer has looked like one of the best players in the country. Well, the same can be said for AJ Dybantsa.
The 5-star freshman just made history in the Big 12 Tournament, breaking the previous record held by Kevin Durant for most points in the tourney. He finished with 93, which is still being talked about. He doesn't need extra motivation to keep living up to the hype, but Andy Katz has provided it. That's because Katz ranked his 10 best players for the Big Dance and the BYU superstar is at the top of the list:
Best of the best 🤩@TheAndyKatz ranks the 🔟 best players in the #MarchMadness field 👏 pic.twitter.com/zIhy1Effhs
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 18, 2026
Andy Katz has AJ Dybantsa as the best player in the NCAA Tournament
There's a loaded list, with Dybantsa followed by Boozer, Darius Acuff, Yaxel Lendeborg, Jaden Bradley, Braden Smith, Keaton Wagler, Kingston Flemings, Joshua Jefferson and Graham Ike. No Darryn Peterson? That caught our eye, but BYU supporters won't care about that.
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What they will care about is that Dybantsa is living up to the buzz surrounding his name and he's fully focused on helping the Cougars go on a deep run in the NCAA Tournament. First up is a showdown with the Texas Longhorns, who took down NC State in a First Four matchup.
BYU, the No. 6 seed, is a small favorite against Texas, the No. 11 seed, in this one. While some analysts have the Cougs on upset alert, that will only give BYU and Dybantsa extra motivation to ball out and silence all of the haters out there. So, will BYU come out on top?
That's what we're expecting, though Sean Miller is going to do everything he can to try and slow down Dybantsa. That won't be easy, as the youngster is averaging 25.6 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. BYU will only go as far as Dybantsa can take this team. We can't wait to see what he gets done with March Madness in full effect.