Team USA Makes Exciting Announcement on Nation's No. 1 Recruit

Team USA Makes Exciting Announcement on Nation's No. 1 Recruit originally appeared on Athlon Sports.

After earning fourth place at the 2023, Team USA was able to reclaim gold at the FIBA U19 World Cup in Switzerland.

Led by a handful of former blue-chip recruits, such as JJ Mandaquit (Washington), Koa Peat (Arizona), Mikel Brown Jr. (Louisville) and AJ Dybantsa (BYU), the United States scored more than 100 points in all but one game.

They capped off the tournament with a convincing 109-76 win over Germany, which had also entered the championship undefeated before being handed a 33-point loss. 

Although many players delivered strong performances for the Stars and Stripes throughout, Team USA announced that Dybantsa is the World Cup's MVP on Sunday.

⭐️ MVP AJ ⭐️@AJ_Dybantsa is the 2025 #FIBAU19 World Cup Most Valuable Player!

🇺🇸 #USABMU19pic.twitter.com/GnImMYYCAE

— USABJNT (@usabjnt) July 6, 2025

This doesn't come as a surprise to many as Dybantsa ranks as the No. 1 recruit in the Rivals, On3 and ESPN recruiting rankings.

In seven games, Dybantsa did a bit of everything for Team USA, averaging 14.3 points, grabbing 4.1 rebounds and dishing out 2.3 assists per game. He also had scoring outbursts of 18 points against Australia in the group stage and dropped 22 points against Canada in the quarterfinals.

Despite receiving offers from programs such as Alabama, North Carolina, Kansas, USC and Auburn, Dybantsa stunned the college basketball world and chose to play for Kevin Young and BYU. 

He headlines a BYU class that features two other four-stars and ranks as the No. 6 class in the country, a significant jump from the previous year's No. 22 ranking.

While Dybantsa proved it on the global stage, fans around college basketball will certainly be keeping an eye on him this upcoming season to see if he is worth the hype.

Related: Flau'jae Johnson Sends Clear Message to Duke Coach After FIBA AmeriCup Win

This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 7, 2025, where it first appeared.