AJ Dybantsa chooses BYU: Alabama misses out on the nation's No. 1 basketball recruit

AJ Dybantsa, the nation's No. 1 overall 2025 basketball recruit, committed to BYU over Alabama, Kansas, and North Carolina live on ESPN's First Take on Tuesday morning.

The Crimson Tide was considered the runner-up for Dybantsa, but in the end, it could not overcome the massive amount of NIL money BYU had on the table to keep Dybantsa in Utah.

Even in not finishing the deal, head coach Nate Oats and assistant Preston Murphy deserve a ton of credit for keeping Alabama in this race to the finish line and having a legitimate shot at overcoming the NIL deficit and landing what would have been the biggest recruit in school history.

Dybantsa is considered a generational prospect and is expected to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.

It's disappointing news for Alabama, if not unexpected. BYU was always going to be tough to beat from an NIL perspective. Oats and Murphy put the full-court press on Murphy and sold the program well, particularly Dybantsa's fit in Alabama's NBA scheme.

Alabama currently has the No. 11 class in the 247 composite rankings for 2025. Alabama signed three Top-70 recruits in the early signing window and is still involved with some highly-ranked recruits like 5-star guard Brayden Burries.

Alabama also figures to be highly active in the transfer portal to compile next year's roster with the expectation currently that there will be significant roster turnover from this team.