AJ Dybantsa, nation's top basketball prospect, moves up to class of 2025
The nation's top-rated high school basketball sophomore has jumped a class.
AJ Dybantsa, a 5-star Prolific Prep (California) forward, is now a part of the class of 2025 and will start his junior season next month, he announced on Twitter/X Wednesday morning.
The 6-foot-9, 200-pound Dybantsa, who turns 17 in January, remains the top overall prospect in the nation in 2025 according to at least one major recruiting outlet, 247 Sports. He held the mantle in 2026.
He's coming off a mantle-solidifying summer that included leading both the vaunted Nike EYBL Peach Jam and the NBPA Top 100 Camp in scoring.
Dybantsa played his freshman season at St. Sebastian's Needham, Massachusetts before moving to the west coast to prep powerhouse Prolific Prep, which checked in as the nation's No. 2 ranked team in the most recent way-too-early SBLive/Sports Illustrated national basketball rankings.
He's not the first NBA-projected prospect to reclassify this offseason. Cooper Flagg of Montverde Academy classed up from 2025 to 2024 in August — and remained the nation's top-rated prospect.
The news comes days before Dybantsa and Prolific Prep are slated for a preseason national TV showcase.
They play Friday through Sunday in the ESPN-televised 'Top Flight Invite' that includes Flagg, Cameron Boozer and several nationally ranked teams.
Prolific Prep opens Friday at 4:15 p.m. (Pacific time) against LA Basketball Club, which is made up of Harvard Westlake (California) players, including 4-star combo guard Trent Perry. The will be televised on ESPN+. Sunday's final will be on ESPN at 6 p.m. Pacific.
-- Andy Buhler | andy@scorebooklive.com | @sbliveca
Lead photo by USA Basketball
