BYU basketball news: AJ Dybantsa's Fanatics deal helps boost $4.1 million NIL valuation

This season, the BYU basketball program will likely have more eyes on it than usual thanks to the presence of star freshman AJ Dybantsa. Dybantsa is widely expected to be one of the, if not the first name off of the board in next June's NBA Draft, but not before a college season at BYU that will be filled with anticipation.

Although he is set to cash in big-time once he gets to the NBA, Dybantsa is already able to make some serious bread at the college level thanks to the sport's new NIL (name, image, and likeness) rules, and recently, some new information was unearthed on some commitments that Dybantsa has already made in that department.

“Dybantsa has signed a multi-year partnership with Fanatics and Fanatics Collectibles,” reported Nick Schultz of On3 Sports.

“We’re excited to announce that we’ve signed BYU star AJ Dybantsa to an exclusive trading card & memorabilia deal,” said the company in a statement on their account on X, formerly Twitter.

Schultz also reported that the partnership will be “focused on trading cards and memorabilia, (and) will also continue beyond his college career once he eventually heads to the NBA.”

Dybantsa's current NIL valuation is at $4.1 million.

Dybantsa essentially checks every box of what teams are looking for in the modern NBA. At 6'9″, he has an NBA-ready frame to be an elite wing at the next level, and has all of the tools to be an elite defender the second he gets to the league.

He also has immense athleticism, a solid handle, and a silky-smooth jumper that have garnered comparisons to players like Paul George and other NBA stars.

Before all of that, though, Dybantsa will have a chance to push his draft stock even higher (if that's possible) during this year with BYU, where the team will have the national spotlight thanks to his arrival.

More NCAA Basketball News