BYU’s AJ Dybantsa was named one of four finalists for the Jersey Mike’s Naismith Trophy, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced on Mar. 27.
The Naismith Award recognizes the top men’s college basketball player in the country each year and has been awarded since 1969. The winner will be revealed on Sunday, April 5, at the Naismith Awards Brunch during Men’s Final Four events in Indianapolis.
Dybantsa led the nation in scoring this season, averaging 25.5 points per game with a shooting percentage of 51.0 from the field, 33.1 from three-point range, and 77.4 from the free throw line. His total of 894 points is third-most by a freshman in NCAA Division I men’s basketball history and marks the highest since Kevin Durant scored 903 points in 2007.
He earned Big 12 Freshman of the Year honors after scoring double figures in all his games as a Cougar this season—35 total—including eight games with at least thirty points and a freshman record-setting performance of forty-three points against Utah on Jan. 24. In addition to these achievements, Dybantsa averaged thirty-one points per game during the Big 12 Tournament and broke Durant’s tournament scoring record with ninety-three total points.
Dybantsa also recorded BYU’s first-ever triple-double featuring over thirty points, ten rebounds, and ten assists in a single game—a feat only achieved once before by any Big 12 player—during BYU’s win over Eastern Washington on Dec. 22.
Fans can participate in selecting this year’s winner through an online vote that runs until noon Eastern Time on April 1 at www.naismithfanvote.com; each fan may cast one vote per day, which will count toward five percent of the final result.
