Report: AJ Dybantsa Received $5M NIL Offers from UNC, Alabama Before BYU Commitment

It's a new day in college sports, and multiple schools were reportedly willing to pay what it took to land highly coveted recruit AJ Dybantsa before he revealed on Tuesday's episode of First Take that he will attend BYU.

Matt Norlander of CBS Sports reported Wednesday that BYU, North Carolina and Alabama all decided to "meet the asking price" of approximately $5 million in name, image and likeness money to sign Dybantsa.

Norlander noted it is believed to be the biggest deal for any college basketball player in history.

"The money for every [school] was the same," Leonard Armato, Dybantsa's business adviser, told CBS Sports. "The decision wasn't a money decision as much as it was a culture fit, a decision for the family, basketball, all those things that should be the determining factors. There was a certain money threshold, but once you got to that, it was about 'how comfortable do I feel for me as a basketball player and my family.'"

That's not all, as Dybantsa has deals with Nike and Red Bull that Norlander reported are believed to be worth at least another $1 million combined.

BYU's ability to land a recruit over some of the sport's most notable powerhouse programs speaks well to the direction the program is heading under head coach Kevin Young, who took over after Mark Pope departed for Kentucky.

Dybantsa is far from just an ordinary recruit, as he is the No. 1 overall player in the 2025 class, per 247Sports' composite rankings. He reclassified from the 2026 class to the 2025 one, but the move did nothing to his No. 1 ranking.

That is because of a skill set that features the ability to score all over the court as a 6'9" matchup nightmare. He can hit from the outside, score in the lane and attack off the bounce, and it isn't difficult to envision him as a defensive leader at the next level as well with his combination of size and athleticism.

He will be an expensive recruit for BYU's collective as the program looks to establish success in the Big 12, but the Cougars needed a jolt since they haven't won an NCAA tournament game since 2012.

Dybantsa is the type of player who can provide just that type of program-altering boost.