Last season, AJ Dybantsa shined for Team USA in the FIBA U19 World Cup in Switzerland, winning the MVP award for his performance.

Dybantsa went on to average 25.5 points per game for BYU in 2025-26 and was named a first team All-American. In a few weeks, he’ll likely be the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft.

This year’s BYU wunderkind is Bruce Branch III, a 6-7 forward who reclassified from the Class of 2027 to enter college this season. He’s currently playing for Team USA in the FIBA U18 Americup in Leon, Mexico. The Americans rolled to an 88-58 victory against Argentina on Monday and Branch, who started and played 15 minutes, finished with seven points and six rebounds while making 3 of 5 from the field. He struggled a bit from the foul line (1 for 5) and was assessed a technical foul after tossing the ball to a defender sitting on the floor after a foul call.

But Branch did display his elite athleticism and wingspan over the course of the game. In the second half, Branch took a pass moving to the rim and threw down a powerful two-handed jam as Team USA ran away with the game.

Because of his age (he doesn’t turn 18 until October) Branch doesn’t have nearly as mature a game as Dybantsa but the tools are all there.

Darius Wabbington and Adan Diggs scored 12 points each for the Americans with Quentin Coleman, Davion Thompson and Caleb Gaskins all scoring 11 points apiece.

Team USA has two games remaining against host Mexico and Brazil in the Group Phase followed by the quarterfinals on Friday, semifinals on Saturday and championship game on Sunday.

Childs star

Yoeli Childs started 111 games for BYU in four seasons and averaged 22.2 points and nine rebounds as a senior in 2019-20. His professional basketball journey has taken him all over the world and most recently to the Japanese B League with the Kobe Storks.

Childs cleaned up on just about all of the league’s awards this season: He was named Player of the Year and Finals MVP as well as Defensive Player of the Year, Import of the Year and Forward of the Year.

Childs averaged 21.3 points, 11.6 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game for the Storks, which finished the regular season with a 55-5 record. In the playoffs, Childs average 26.6 points, 11.4 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game.

Playing the field

BYU is closing in on completing its 2026-26 non-conference schedule, which is a lot like last year in one respect: Almost all of the important games are away from the Marriott Center.

In the world of college basketball, getting Quad 1 or even Quad 2 games on your home floor in non-conference play is a rare feat. The Cougars did manage to snag a home game against Utah State on Dec. 9, the first meeting with the Aggies since 2021.

BYU has a home exhibition game with Nebraska, the Huskers returning the favor after playing in Lincoln last season. The Cougars open the non-conference slate at the Delta Center against Ohio State and also have San Diego State in Palm Springs, Northwestern in Salt Lake City and three games at the Maui Invitational in Hawaii (a field that includes Clemson, Arizona, Washington, Ole Miss, Providence, Colorado State and VCU).

Aside from Utah State, home fans will get to see BYU against Queens, Montana State, Northern Colorado, Weber State and LaSalle, with two more home games yet to be scheduled.

The Cougars will have 18 Big 12 games, with matchups to be announced later this summer.

Donut in the middle

It’s been a weird off season for BYU when it comes filling the center position left vacant by the graduation of starter Keba Keita and the transfers of Xavion Staton (to Oregon State) and Abdullah Ahmed (to UMass). The Cougars have courted literally dozens of big men in the portal but so far, no takers.

Most recently, BYU has been linked to 7-foot-3 Italian center Luigi Suigo, 7-5 Chinese center Xu Xin and San Diego’s 6-9 Assane Diop.

There are a number of reasons why the Cougars haven’t been able to secure a big man, and most of them have to do with dollar signs. The recent success of 7-footers such as Michigan’s Aday Mara and Texas’ Matas Vokietaitis (specifically against BYU in the NCAA Tournament) as well as 7-4 Victor Wembanyama in the NBA has every college team looking for the next great big man. Consequently, 7-footers who averaged five points and five rebounds per game last season are getting seven-figure deals in college basketball. New Arizona State coach Randy Bennett has secured commitments from five players 6-10 or taller from the portal on his roster, for instance.

BYU doesn’t want to overpay but time is getting short to procure a serviceable center for the 2026-27 season. As of now, the Cougars have 6-9 sophomore Khadim Mboup, 6-10 Clemson transfer Jake Wahlin and 6-11 TCU transfer Adam Stewart to fill the role in the middle.