‘25 five-star guard AJ Dybantsa receives Kentucky offer

Kentucky has extended a scholarship offer to basketball’s next generational talent — undoubtedly John Calipari’s top recruiting priority in 2025. And maybe all of high school.

AJ Dybantsa, the nation’s No. 1 overall junior, announced the news on his social media pages Tuesday afternoon.

“I’m blessed to receive an offer from the University of Kentucky! Go Wildcats,” he said.

I’m blessed to receive an offer from the University of Kentucky! Go Wildcats💙🤍 pic.twitter.com/xd8dsDmzA6

— AJ Dybantsa (@ADybantsa) November 21, 2023

The five-star wing, who previously announced offers from the likes of Alabama, Auburn, Michigan and Texas, among others, reclassified from ’26 to ’25 back in October.

“The time is right to officially announce that I have reclassed to the class of 2025,” Dybantsa said at the time.

Playing up two age groups with the 17Us this summer, the 6-8 standout led the Nike EYBL Peach Jam with 25.8 points while adding 5.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 30.8 minutes per contest. Long and athletic with a knack for scoring, he firmly solidified himself as a contender in the best-in-the-world debate, regardless of class.

The next big thing out of Massachusetts followed it up by working out with the likes of LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Paul George and Chris Paul back in the summer, welcomed into the NBA brotherhood three full years before he makes his inevitable jump to the league.

“Really, I feel like I can do a little bit of everything,” he told KSR. “I can play defense, I can make plays and I can score. I can do everything.” 

A connection to keep a close eye on? Former Kentucky guard Terrence Clarke served as a mentor for Dybantsa before his tragic passing in 2021. When the basketball world lost a promising young talent, the fellow Expressions Elite standout lost a family member.

“He was like my big brother. You could say that we were cousins — we weren’t related, but basically cousins,” Dybantsa said. “I was ‘little brother’ every time he came back (to the area). … I’ve known him since I got to Expressions, so the fourth grade. I didn’t know Expressions (before him). If you knew him, you probably knew Expressions. He was a star.

“… That was my idol. Ever since he passed away, I do the basketball stuff for him. Everything is for him. I’m just trying to carry his legacy.”

Now his goal is to pick up where Clarke left off and become the player the former Wildcat hoped to become in the NBA. He wants to be an all-time great.

“(I want to be) a Hall of Famer,” Dybantsa told KSR. “Me and my trainer talk about it all the time. ‘Hey, you want to be a Hall of Famer, right?’ That’s the goal.”

Will he follow in his footsteps to Lexington? He now has an offer in hand to do so.