The Future Starts Now; AJ Dybantsa and Cooper Flagg; The Next Two Projected #1 Picks

AJ DYBANTSA AJ Dybantsa, the projected number one pick for the 2026 NBA draft, announced on December 10th that he was officially committed to attend BYU (Brigham Young University), a Mormon, Division 1 college. The Senior at Utah Prep High School signed a NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) deal promising at least 5 million dollars. He turned down other scholarship opportunities with colleges like UNC, Kansas, and Alabama. The 17 year old said the reason why was because he trusted the staff at Brigham to prepare him for the NBA better than other colleges, and was hopeful for a one-and-done season. WHO IS AJ DYBANTSA AJ Dybantsa is a 6-9, 200 pound, 17 year old who attends Utah Prep High School. He played for the American U17 national basketball team alongside with the Boozer twins (Cameron and Cayden), and Tyron Stokes. Their squad brought home gold for America. He has a 98.1, 5 star scouting report, and is a crucial element in the future of the game. WHY BYU? BYU’s staff just recently hired Kevin Young, an NBA coach, which seemed very appealing to AJ. Young coached the Suns, and Dybantsa seemed very pleased with the one on one work Kevin Young had done with Devin Booker and Kevin Durant. All four colleges in his final selections offered him the same pay-check, so it wasn’t a decision based on money, more than what was right for his development and future. COOPER FLAGG Cooper Flagg is all over the news. All people can talk about is if he is as good as people say he is, and if he truly deserves to go one and done and be the number one draft pick in the coming draft. I mean, he doesn’t have the highest statistical numbers out of anybody in collegiate basketball. He is tied for 131st in scoring, tied for 31st in rebounding, and 150+ in FG% and assists. The question is, do his intangibles make up for the lack of numbers? WHO IS COOPER FLAGG? Cooper Flagg is the projected number one pick for the 2025 NBA Draft. He’s a 6-9, 205 pound beast. He does unreal things on the court, and can always be trusted with the rock. He’s from Newport, Maine, and his highlight reel is just as long as Avengers Endgame. He is a freshman and attends Duke University. He is their starting small forward/shooting guard. He was also a High School McDonald's All American, a 2022 U17 Men's Basketball Gold Medalist, and the USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year. Pretty much, he’s a very talented basketball player. But is he up to the pressure? IS COOPER FLAGG AS GOOD AS PEOPLE SAY? Some people may disagree, but my answer is yes. A Freshman in contention for the Naismith Men's College Basketball Player of the Year deserves to go one and done. Every NBA team has been eyeing him for 3 years. Everybody knew it was going to be difficult for him to adapt to college basketball, but now that he has to, people are saying he’s overrated? That isn’t right. Cooper is going to be as good as he’s going to be, but we know his ceiling is high, and he has the right people around him to try to reach it if he puts in the work. I think he will be as incredible as everyone thought. I mean, everyone was hyping Wemby, but he didn’t have as amazing a rookie season as everyone thought he would (in my opinion), but his year is sophomore year is looking a .lot more dominant. That’s what Flagg is doing. He’ll get there in a year or two.