AJ Dybantsa left BYU for the NBA after one season. He did not leave BYU in the same way.
When Dybantsa declared for the 2026 NBA Draft in April, he said he planned to finish his degree online. That was a good promise, and an easy one to lose beneath draft workouts, the No. 1 pick, Summer League and the daily demands of joining the Washington Wizards.
Five months later, the promise has a working schedule.
Dybantsa told Boston sports anchor Ari Alexander that he contacted his BYU academic adviser, asked to begin quickly and started psychology and communications coursework. He described a day built around basketball from roughly 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., with online lessons before another evening trip to the gym and one more lesson before bed.
That does not put a diploma in his hand. It does put evidence behind the April announcement.
The promise has moved through three stages
The useful part of this story is the sequence. Dybantsa has repeated the degree plan at three different moments, and the latest update adds behavior rather than another statement of intent.
| Date | Public evidence | What changed |
|---|---|---|
| April 23 | BYU’s draft declaration release said Dybantsa planned to finish his degree in the coming years | The goal became public |
| June 25 | At his Washington introduction, Dybantsa again said he intended to graduate through online study | The goal survived draft night |
| Sept. 21 | Dybantsa said he had contacted his adviser, started classes and built lessons around his basketball day | The goal became a routine |
The April version was a pledge. The June version showed consistency. September is the first public receipt that the work has begun.
That distinction matters because one-and-done college careers are built to move fast. Dybantsa arrived as the country’s top recruit, led the nation with 25.5 points per game, scored 894 points in 35 games and became the first No. 1 NBA Draft pick in BYU history. Everything about the basketball path encouraged the next step.
The degree has no lottery, no televised announcement and no guaranteed completion date. It has an adviser, coursework and hours found around practice. That work is less glamorous than draft night and more convincing than another promise.
His timeline is a target, not a result
Dybantsa told Alexander that he believes he can finish in about three and a half years. Fans should treat that as his current plan, not a promised graduation date.
An NBA rookie schedule will test it quickly. Washington’s regular season begins Oct. 21, according to the Deseret News report. Once games start, classwork has to travel through practices, flights, recovery, film sessions and back-to-backs. A routine that works during September training can become much harder in January.
The public record also does not tell us his remaining credit count, exact program map or future course load. BYU’s April release said he planned to finish the degree. The NBA’s June account said he would study online. The latest interview identifies current subject areas and his daily rhythm. None of those sources confirms a graduation audit or guarantees that every semester will look the same.
That is not a reason to discount the plan. It is a reason to describe it accurately.
Dybantsa has started. He has not finished. The next meaningful receipt is sustained progress after the NBA calendar gets crowded, not another quote about how much education matters.
This gives BYU a different recruiting proof
BYU already owns the loud basketball proof. Dybantsa chose Provo, became a consensus first-team All-American, led Division I in scoring and went first in the draft. Kevin Young’s staff can put that sequence in front of any elite recruit without adding a word.
The school relationship continuing after the draft gives that pitch another layer.
A one-year player does not have to become a one-year institutional relationship. Dybantsa can be a Wizards rookie and a BYU student at the same time. For recruits and families trying to weigh NBA preparation against education, that is more useful than a brochure sentence about supporting both.
It also fits the choice Dybantsa described before the draft. BYU’s official declaration said he would keep working toward the degree. The Associated Press account from his Washington introduction reported the same intention and connected it with his plans to help young people attend college through his foundation. The degree was not introduced after the cameras moved on. It was part of how he and his family framed the decision from the start.
BYU should still resist turning one student’s plan into a sweeping claim. There is no public evidence that every early NBA entrant receives the same arrangement, that Dybantsa has a special academic track or that enrolling online guarantees completion. One example is a receipt, not a system.
But it is a strong receipt.
Our June draft-impact analysis asked whether Dybantsa would become a bridge for the program or a comet that flashed through Provo and disappeared. Staying enrolled does not answer every part of that question. It does keep the bridge attached after basketball carried him to Washington.
The ordinary details are the best part
There is a temptation to make this story heavier than it needs to be. Dybantsa is not the first professional athlete to take online classes. He has not earned the degree yet. Nobody needs to put a graduation cap on a player who just opened the course page.
The ordinary details are enough.
He called an adviser. He began lessons. He put classwork after the first basketball block and before bed. Those choices are specific enough to measure against the next update.
They also match the habits his family discussed throughout his BYU season. The Deseret News previously reported that Dybantsa carried roughly a 3.7 GPA and had earned a 4.0 during the prior summer and fall. That figure comes from reporting, not a public registrar record, so it should stay in that frame. It does explain why the latest update sounds like continuity rather than a branding exercise invented after draft night.
For BYU fans, the basketball memories are secure. The 43-point rivalry game, national scoring title, 93-point Big 12 tournament and No. 1 selection are already in the file. The schoolwork asks for a different kind of patience.
The current men’s basketball program has to build its next team without Dybantsa’s 25.5 points. Dybantsa has to build an NBA career while completing work that no longer comes with a packed Marriott Center watching. Both projects will take longer than one good September update.
Still, this is the update that turns a nice line from draft day into something real. The degree promise now has a calendar, an adviser and a place in his day. Finishing it will take the same ordinary repetition after the novelty of rookie year wears off.
Sources and further reading
- Deseret News, Sept. 21: How AJ Dybantsa is balancing NBA life with getting his degree at BYU for Dybantsa’s adviser contact, current coursework, daily study routine, estimated timeline and previously reported GPA.
- BYU Athletics, April 23: AJ Dybantsa declares for the 2026 NBA Draft for his original public degree plan and final BYU season totals.
- NBA/AP, June 25: Dybantsa arrives in Washington for his repeated online-graduation intention, Wizards introduction and education-focused foundation plan.
- BYU Athletics, June 23: Washington selects Dybantsa No. 1 for his draft position, national scoring lead, 894 points and BYU/Big 12 records.
- BYU Sport Nuts: what BYU can use from the No. 1 pick, the post-Dybantsa roster test and the men’s basketball schedule.
