AJ Dybantsa is officially a member of the class of 2025, announcing his reclassification in an exclusive interview on CBSSports HQ.
Dybantsa, who will turn 17-years-old in January, is coming off a summer during which he not only played up in the EYBL with Expressions Elite, but also led the entire Peach Jam in scoring by a wide margin — averaging 25.8 points per game while the event’s second leading scorer was at 21.2.
Following the summer, he was ranked the second-best overall prospect in high school basketball and first overall in the class of 2026.
He will maintain the distinction of being the top ranked national prospect in the class of 2025, as he takes over the top spot ahead of other highly decorated five-star prospects like Cameron Boozer and Darryn Peterson.
What separates Dybantsa from everyone else in the class is the polish of his offensive game combined with his size. His talent has been notable since he was a listed eighth grader playing up with his high school team at St. Sebastian’s School outside of Boston. But where we’ve seen real growth within the last year is in the maturation of his approach.
He’s not only developed his skillset, shooting and footwork in particular, but he’s also learned how to get to his sweet spots on the court with as much efficiency as possible. He’s now a scoring threat from multiple spots on the floor and far more adept at creating his own shot without wasting dribbles, even than he was six months ago. He’s even developed a knack for getting to the free-throw line for easy points.
That progression was on full display this summer as he not only scored at will, but did so efficiently and in ways that translate up levels.
The reclassification also means Dybantsa will be eligible for the 2026 NBA draft. He is currently enrolled at Prolific Prep in California and will play two more years of high school basketball, before having a year left beyond his graduation in the spring of 2025.
Ironically, his reclassification also makes his Prolific Prep teammate, Tyran Stokes, the new number one overall prospect in the national class of 2026. Also, Dybantsa’s reclassification comes just two months after Cooper Flagg made a similar move, going from the 2025 class up to 2024.
These moves aren’t outliers specific to the top two prospects in high school basketball, but instead representative of a growing trend in the recruiting world. Last year alone, six of the top 50 prospects in the national class of 2023 had reclassified up after initially being in the class of 2024.
This year, Flagg, Dybantsa and another five-star prospect Jayden Quaintance have already reclassified. There will undoubtedly be others, perhaps a long line of them, with numerous players currently in the class in the class of 2025 been speculated about including Darryn Peterson, Caleb Wilson, Bryson Tiller, Jasper Johnson, Brayden Burries, Joson Sanon, Moustapha Thiam, Efeosa Oliogu, Oswin Erhunmwunse, Jeremiah Fears and others.
The reclassification trend is rooted in a “rush to the money” as we discussed on a recent episode of College Basketball Recruiting Weekly, whether that comes by earlier entry to the NBA Draft or to the NIL opportunities that come with getting to college basketball.
A big theme of our rankings release was the growing reclassification trend, creating more class fluidity than ever before. @ebosshoops dove into the history, while we talked about the motivating factor$ on the show.
? https://t.co/UHCdOycmvo
? https://t.co/Amd4guTiKE pic.twitter.com/pZU4eeIquC— Adam Finkelstein (@AdamFinkelstein) September 15, 2023
