Memoirs from the Mount: the disappointment of the AJ Dybantsa era has forever damaged me

Welcome to Memoirs from the Mount, a weekly adventure through the twisting catacombs of my ever-decaying stream of consciousness. From the solitary peak of Mount Fuji to the cascading slopes of Mount Timpanogos, I'm sending a telegram of my perspective on current events surrounding BYU athletics.

It's been a while since I last put out a Memoirs from the Mount piece.

I guess that makes the whole "weekly" aspect of these articles a blatant lie at this point, but I'm determined not to let this recent hiatus stop me from picking up my pen (a metaphorical pen, of course, and metaphorical paper, since I'm doing all of this from my MacBook Air, and haven't hand-written an essay since high school.

Regardless, I'm back, I have some stuff to say, and you are my audience. Whether here against your will (welcome!), or by your own choice (please never leave me), I have plenty to say about the most recent BYU basketball season, and I need a digital wall to vent toward. Is this my self-therapy session? Are there healthier ways to get these negative emotions out of me? Perhaps, but this ball is already rolling and there's little that you -- or I -- can do to slow its momentum.

The AJ Dybantsa era of BYU basketball has forever scarred me. Consider this my digital venting/therapy session, and you are my very qualified friend/very unqualified therapist.

I wanted it to go better

For those of you who, like me, have cluttered their brain's memory hard drives with useless quotes, facts, and niche media beyond the point of relatability, there's a chance you can recall NBC's hit sitcom, The Office (US), in the moments immediately following Steve Carell's departure from the character Michael Scott and the show entirely. Andy Bernard, the office's kiss-up-turned-screw-up played by Ed Helms, applied for the office's new regional manager vacancy with an "I'll give it a go, I don't really care either way" attitude.

It was a farce, and he masked the mirage very thinly. In truth, Andy really wanted to have the interview be a smashing hit, so he could revel in the glee of a promotion.

But during the interview, his expectations were turned upside down, which would be fine if Andy were a right-side-up pineapple cake, which he regrettably was not. One interviewer, in particular, was antagonistic and hostile as the questions quickly dipped into irrelevant territory bordering on impossible to answer.

Rapid-firing questions about how many windows were in New York City and the distance between the Sun and the Earth, Andy flashed a wide-toothed smile and began reciting several facts about the Sun to display his critical thinking skills, only to have the interviewer raise his voice, pounding his fist into the table as he screamed, "Shut up about the Sun!"

The interview did not play out as planned.

Shocked, disappointed, but most of all, frustrated, Andy Bernard held his tongue and boiled with rage as he forced a smile and excused himself to the privacy of his car. His easy-going facade melted away as he clung to his final shreds of stoicism. Andy talked himself through his emotions before finally releasing. He screamed and pounded the steering wheel as he said, "I wanted it to go better... I WANTED IT TO GO BETTER!"

Andy, I don't know where you are or how your life has turned out in the nearly 13 years (13 years?? Is this a grey hair or am I paranoid?) since the series' final episode aired. But enduring the reality of BYU basketball's 2025-26 season has me relating very strongly to your outburst.

I wanted it to go better. I did. I expected it to go better. I planned for it to go better. Any secondary considerations of worst-case scenarios were acknowledged and quickly cast aside as we approached the season-opener, because in what was pitched as the greatest season in BYU's program history, I wouldn't allow my own fear stand in the way of basketball nirvana.

Richie Saunders and Keba Keita were returning from an amazing Sweet 16 run in March, a legitimate 5-star point guard was joining the fray, and most notably, the projected number-one pick in the upcoming NBA Draft would be suiting up under the lights of the Marriott Center. AJ Dybantsa could very well be an NBA MVP one day, and we'll forever remember him as a BYU Cougar. I could not believe that this was real life.

What was the ceiling for such a team? The Elite Eight? Final Four? National Champions?

As a child, I had already accepted the truth that BYU basketball would likely never win a national championship in my lifetime -- a team of clean-cut, scrawny white guys haven't won a basketball title at any level since teams called the Baltimore Oilmongers or whatever were headline stars nicknamed things like "Bobo", who scored 30 points a game off of wide-stanced underhanded granny shots and went back to their milkman gig the following morning.

BYU, a religious school in Provo, Utah, would never have the best athletes in the nation. I had accepted this long ago.

But Kevin Young swept in with his NBA experience, professional organizational habits, and began recruiting 6'9" basketball deities with no affiliation to the LDS church and the adoration of basketball experts from across the nation.

The spotlight fell on BYU. They were ranked in the top 10 of the preseason AP Top 25. This team was going places.

...Until they didn't.

A sobering reality

Despite starting the season with a 16-1 record, BYU basketball fell off a cliff. Their bench was plagued with injuries, the role players were underperforming across the board, and the trio of stars at the top carried far too much of the load to sustain winning basketball. They lost in the Big 12 Conference schedule. A lot.

They finished the season as the 10th seed in the Big 12 Conference Tournament, and lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, getting upset by the hands of the 11-seed Texas Longhorns.

My lips have never touched alcohol (shocking, isn't it?), but the reality of BYU basketball sobered me right up.

Dybantsa, the Cougars' star and the central point of my "BYU basketball can win the national championship" thesis, lived up to the hype in every way. He broke the BYU freshman scoring record in an absolute eruption against Utah. He dropped a 35-point triple-double. He solidified his case for the number-one overall pick with an absurd usage rate and the highest point-per-game average in the nation. He played every single game of the year -- at times, never leaving the action for even a minute -- was a model citizen and glowing ambassador of Brigham Young University, and will likely turn out to be the greatest to ever play for BYU basketball.

This year will be remembered for Dybantsa, but the failures were not his. The fact that AJ Dybantsa was everything I hoped him to be is my only solace. That, and Rob Wright III's awesome buzzer-beater against Clemson.

But for one reason or another, the Cougars just couldn't get it done or so much as meet the bare minimum expectations with the very best player in the entire country on their roster.

So if that team couldn't get the job done, will BYU basketball be forever doomed to dwindle in mediocrity? Will they be the prime example of "great player, bad team" for eternity? What to think of this upcoming season?

BYU will have yet another McDonalds All-American on campus this season in Bruce Branch III. But if the experience of this season has impacted me in any way, it's manifesting in my hesitancy to be optimistic of the team's chances.

Another year under Kevin Young's belt could do some good. Some of the incoming transfers and recruits have me excited about what's possible. Rob Wright is coming back, and so is Collin Chandler after a mysterious four-year hiatus that I refuse to acknowledge. Perhaps this is the year that they learn from the previous group's mistake and finally live up to their potential?

Maybe I'm jaded. Maybe I'm cynical. Maybe I've been hurt one too many times. I'm scarred -- I'll believe BYU is ready to compete when I see it.

But please let this be the year.

Calvin Barrett is a writer, editor, and prolific Mario Kart racer located in Tokyo, Japan. He has covered the NBA and college sports since 2024.

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