The 6-foot-9 phenom made his choice public on ESPN’s First Take, causing blustering personality Stephan A. Smith to ask — rather incredulously — why Dybantsa would pick the Cougars over all of the other blue bloods recruiting him.

It turned out pretty well for Dybantsa, who led the nation in scoring, was selected as a first team All-American and picked No. 1 in June’s NBA Draft by the Washington Wizards.

Next up to take advantage of Young’s expertise is freshman Bruce Branch III, the No. 1 prospect in the Class of 2027 who reclassified to 2026, where he’s still listed as Top 5 and a likely lottery selection.

The 6-foot-8 inch Branch has a different skill set than Dybantsa, but has similar goals for his career.

Tyler Tate, AP Photo

Branch wasn’t particularly happy with his performance in BYU’s opener, a 94-83 victory against Ohio State at the Delta Center. In that game, Branch finished with 10 points on 4 of 10 from the field (0-3 from the 3-point line) along with three rebounds and three assists.

In Friday’s 108-67 rout of Omaha at the Marriott Center, Branch scored 17 point on 5 of 9 from the field (2 of 4 from three) with six rebounds, two blocks and two assists.

“One of the biggest things was I was forcing a lot, not letting the game just come to me,” Branch said. “It was more of selfish thing. I would always realize that in the second half, and that’s why I would kind of play better. But for this game especially, I wasn’t forcing anything. I was really focused on defense, defending and rebounding. I had a better game than the last two, so I’m proud of myself.”

It’s on the defensive end where Young feels Branch can be a game changer.

“I had a good conversation with Bruce this morning at shootaround,” Young said after the Omaha win. “I felt like he was pressing a little bit. I felt like he did a good job picking his spots. But the thing he can always do, no matter what goes on in the offensive end, is that he plays defense. He has defensive player of the year potential on that end of the floor. His rebounding allowed us to get out in transition and get some easy ones. He’s young and interpreting on the fly, so I’m really happy for him right now.”

After the Ohio State game, Young was asked about the process of coaching Dybantsa and Branch.

“There are similarities,” Young said. “They’re both really good defenders. I think Bruce can be elite on that end of the floor, and they’re both really good rebounders. AJ is obviously more of a scorer, where I think Bruce is just a little bit more cerebral. He makes plays a little bit more opportunistically with his scoring combined with his playmaking.

“He’s a guy that I think we’re just going to ride the wave with throughout the course of the year. He’s not just a freshman, he’s a young freshman (Branch just turned 18 in October), and so for him to be able to make plays down the stretch in a big game on opening night, I’m excited to see where he can get to as the season progresses.”

In his first season, Young developed freshman Egor Demin, who was a lottery pick by the Brooklyn Nets. Young is trying to make it three for three with Branch.

“They (Dybantsa and Branch) are diferent players, but I think more than anything, we found some success with having those guys get to campus as soon as they can,” Young said. “They don’t just show up when the first official practice starts. Bruce had a lot of runway. His body looks really good compared to when we first got him. We did a similar thing with AJ that I thought really helped him. So that was something that we kind of took from that blueprint.”

Scouting Report

Queens University (Charlotte, NC) finished 21-14 overall and 13-5 in the Atlantic Sun Conference last season, good enough for third place. The Royals won the ASUN Tournament to qualify for the NCAA”s as a No. 15 seed, losing to No. 2 Purdue 104-71 in the first round.

Expectation are high for 2026-27. Queens was picked to win the CSUN in the league’s preseason poll with two returners — sophomore guard Jordan Watford and senior forward Avantae Parker — selected to the CSUN All-Preseason team. Parker was also named the preseason Defensive Player of the Year.

The Royals are 2-1 this season, beating Winthrop 103-98 (Watford had 26 points, seven rebound and eight assists) and winning a “buy game” at LMU 96-95 led by 28 points from Nasir Mann. Queens, which plays five power conference teams this season, lost at Oklahoma State 118-68 last Friday. After BYU the Royals also travel to LSU, Houston and Baylor.

Six degrees or something

Bobby Horodyski, who was director of operations under Mark Pope at BYU for four seasons, left the Cougars to take an assistant coaching job at Queens University in 2023. This spring he joined the staff at Western Michigan, led by former BYU assistant Kahil Fennell. The Broncos roster includes three Utahns, including former Cougar Tanner Hayhurst, Mason Bendigner (Salt Lake City) and Isaac Finlinson (St. George).

Men’s College Basketball

Queens (2-1) at No. X BYU (2-0)

Tuesday, 7 p.m. MT

Marriott Center, Provo

TV/Streaming: ESPN+

Radio: BYU Radio

The Word: BYU is averaging 101 points per game with all five starters scoring in double figures in the first two contests. … Queens University was picked to win the Atlantic Sun Conference in the league’s preseason poll. … The Royals will face five power conference programs this season.