The 6-foot-9 forward becomes the first Cougar to be earn first team All-American accolades since Jimmer Fredette in 2010-11 when was a consensus All-American and national player of the player.

The Sporting News All-America team is one of four used in calculation the NCAA consensus All-America squad.

Dybantsa continues to lead the nation in scoring at 25.2 points per game following his record-breaking performance in the opening round of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Men’s Basketball Tournament on Tuesday evening. He finished with a Big 12 Tournament freshman record 40 points in BYU’s 105-91 victory over Kansas State going 15-of-21 from the field, 2-of-6 from three and 8-of-9 from the free throw line. He also had nine rebounds, six assists and three steals in 37 minutes of action.

The native of Brockton, Mass. is one of 10 NCAA Division I men’s basketball freshman to have scored 800 points in a season, having scored in double figures in all 32 games of his career including 25 20-point performances, seven 30-point performances and a pair of 40-point outbursts. He is shooting 52.0 percent from the field, 33.8 percent from behind the arc and 75.7 percent from the free throw line.

The Big 12 Freshman of the Year recorded just the second 30/10/10 triple-double in conference history and first of the points/rebounds/assists variety in the Cougars’ win over Eastern Washington going for 33 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Less than a month later he would break BYU’s freshman single-game scoring record against Utah at the Marriott Center, finishing with 43 points.

Dybantsa has also been named one of five finalists for the 2026 Julius Erving Award, the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame announced on Wednesday morning.

Dybantsa is joined on the list by Florida’s Thomas Haugh, Iowa State’s Milan Momcilovic, Tennessee’s Nate Ament and Texas’ Dailyn Swain.

Later this month, the finalists will be presented to the Erving and the Hall of Fame’s selection committee. The Selection Committees for the Julius Erving Award are composed of top men’s college basketball personnel, including media members, head coaches, sports information directors, and Hall of Famers.

The winner of the 2026 Erving Award will be presented on a to-be-determined date, along with the other four members of the Men’s and Women’s Starting Five.

2026 Sporting News Men’s Basketball All-Americans

First Team

AJ Dybantsa, BYU

Yaxel Lendeborg, Michigan

Darius Acuff Jr., Arkansas

Cameron Boozer, Duke

Joshua Jefferson, Iowa State

Second Team

Kingston Flemings, Houston

Thomas Haugh, Florida

Braden Smith, Purdue

Keaton Wagler, Illinois

JT Toppin, Texas Tech

Third Team

Christian Anderson, Texas Tech

Jaden Bradley, Arizona

Jeremy Fears, Michigan State

Labaron Philon, Alabama

Caleb Wilson, North Carolina