Duke’s Cameron Boozer should still be considered the clear favorite, through the first seven weeks of this season, to win the CBS Sports National Player of the Year award. He’s been college basketball’s best player so far, by far.
But here comes AJ Dybantsa.
The BYU freshman was the star of the first night of Week 8, finishing with 33 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in Monday’s 109-81 win over Eastern Washington. Yes, that’s a 30-point triple-double — making Dybantsa, who won’t turn 19 years old until Jan. 29, the youngest player to record a 30-point triple-double in NCAA history.
If you watched, you likely know that the last thing Dybantsa needed to secure the triple-double was a 10th assist. He got it with 120 seconds left after Mihailo Boskovic received a pass from Dybantsa and sank a 23-foot jumper.
“Thank God for Mihai,” Dybantsa said afterward with a smile.
BYU will not play again until the Cougars visit Kansas State a week from Saturday. That means Dybantsa’s second full month of college basketball is in the books, and it was literally unlike anything we’ve seen in at least three decades.
Dybantsa played six games in December, all wins, and averaged 27.8 points, 8.0 rebounds and 5.7 assists while shooting 79.5% from the field. According to OptaSTATS, that makes Dybantsa the only Division I player in the last 30 seasons to play at least five games in a calendar month and finish them with averages of 25-plus points, five-plus rebounds and five-plus assists while shooting better than 65% from the field and going undefeated.
BYU remains No. 5 in Tuesday morning’s updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings, where Michigan is No. 1 for the 14th consecutive day. The Cougars are one of three Big 12 schools in the top five of the Top 25 And 1 — joining No. 2 Arizona and No. 3 Iowa State.
