Patrick Kinahan: Thanks to Dybantsa, BYU basketball goes primetime

PROVO — Going into Selection Sunday, the two unknowns for the BYU basketball team were the opponent and location. For all practical purposes, the game time was determined weeks ago.

If the Cougars qualified for the NCAA Tournament, they were going to be slotted into the game that began in primetime back east to capture a large viewership. No way this team would play in those early or late television windows.

College basketball, like all televised sports, is an entertainment product designed to make the most money possible. At its core, for television executives, the sport is akin to a sitcom or a drama.

Sure enough, thanks to AJ Dybantsa, BYU's first-round game will start at 5:30 p.m. MDT in Portland, Oregon. Most of the game will air during primetime in the most populous area of the country.

Folks in Utah and around the Big 12 already know Dybantsa is a special talent, capable of dominating in scintillating fashion. They have seen him display an impressive array of talent for the Cougars, even as multiple injuries have reduced expectations for a team that began the season with Final Four aspirations.

Casual observers, or those viewing the sport from a more regional respective, are in for a treat on Thursday. They will see why many NBA general managers and scouts, who are prohibited by league rules from publicly commenting on underclassmen, believe Dybantsa will go first in the upcoming draft.

"He's got all the tools," an Eastern Conference executive told The Sporting News last month. "He's a dynamic scorer who will put up points in the NBA right away."

For much of the season, Dybantsa was competing with Darryn Peterson of Kansas and Duke's Cam Boozer for the right to go first in the draft. Peterson's durability (he's missed 11 games and saw limited time in others) has caused some concern, but Boozer and Dybantsa have met or exceeded the high expectations.

Like his father, Carlos, who played for the Jazz, Boozer is a powerful low-post scorer with a soft touch. But he does lack the high-flying athleticism of Dybantsa.

"I think Dybantsa is the easy No. 1," an anonymous Eastern Conference executive told ESPN. "He's special. There's just so much for him to still grow into."

In his only college season, Dybantsa leads the nation in scoring at 25.3 points a game while shooting 51.3% from the field despite usually being double-teamed. Often playing all 40 minutes as the season wore on, he also averaged 6.7 rebounds and 3.8 assists.

In the Big 12 Tournament, in which BYU beat Kansas State and West Virginia before losing to fifth-ranked Houston, Dybantsa opened with 40 points and then followed with 27 and 26 points, respectively, in the next two games. At 23-11, the Cougars got a six seed in the NCAA Tournament and will play the winner of the play-in game between Texas and North Carolina State.

"Obviously, going into the season, we wanted to be a higher seed," Dybantsa said. "But as long as you're in the tournament dancing that's all that really matters. We had a lot of adversity through this year with injuries and everything like that."

Sputtering through a part of February and into this month, the Cougars shook off the injuries to ride a three-game winning streak into the Big 12 quarterfinals and finally began to show a consistent effort on defense. Falling victim to overcoaching, Kevin Young and his staff simplified the defensive schemes that allowed the players to react to situations.

The result, at least for now, is a jolt in the team's collective confidence.

"What I learned is that we just have a really confident locker room right now that feels like we're playing our best ball at this time of year, which is what you want to be doing." Young said.

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