What’s next for BYU freshman superstar AJ Dybantsa after Cougars’ first-round loss to Texas?

BYU forward AJ Dybantsa (3) gestures to the crowd after the Cougars were eliminated by Texas 79-71 in the first-round of the NCAA Tournament held at the Moda Center in Portland, Ore. , on Thursday, March 19, 2026. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News PORTLAND, Ore.

— Although he still isn’t flat-out saying it, AJ Dybantsa almost surely played his final game in a BYU uniform on Thursday night as the Cougars were bounced 79-71 by slight underdog Texas in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Dybantsa, the leading scorer in the country with a 25. 3 points per game average, played one of his better games — scoring a game-high 35 points on 11 of 25 shooting — of his freshman season, but it wasn’t enough as his supporting cast delivered only 36 points in the disappointing loss at Moda Center.

BYU fell behind by as many as 17 points in the second half before cutting the deficit to four in the final minutes, but could get no closer, and finished what was once a promising season with a 23-12 record and no Big Dance wins to show for it. The Cougars lost 11 of their final 17 games after starting the season 17-1, the lone loss in that stretch to UConn. Asked after the game in a somber BYU locker room if it was his last game in a BYU jersey, the 19-year-old said he didn’t know, repeating what he told the Deseret News three weeks ago in Morgantown, West Virginia.

Texas head coach Sean Miller calls out to his players during a first-round college basketball game against BYU in the NCAA Tournament held at the Moda Center in Portland, Ore. , on Thursday, March 19, 2026. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News BYU head coach Kevin Young looks to the floor as a play unfolds against Texas during a first-round college basketball game in the NCAA Tournament held at the Moda Center in Portland, Ore.