Why A.J. Dybantsa Chose BYU, and What His Rise Reveals About College Sports

On today’s KSL News Daily, Maria Shilaos, a veteran news anchor for KSL NewsRadio, goes beyond the NBA Draft buzz to tell the story behind A.J. Dybantsa, the basketball phenom who made BYU one of the most talked-about programs in the country. Maria talks with Matthew Bowman and Wayne LeCheminant, authors of Game Changers: AJ Dybantsa, BYU, and the Struggle for the Soul of Basketball, about how Dybantsa ended up in Provo, the role his family played in keeping him focused, and why his rise says so much about the new world of college basketball, where prep schools, NBA pipelines, and major money are changing the game. Plus, fireworks go on sale in Utah as some communities push for tighter restrictions, two families celebrate a fresh start at The Other Side Village, and Before You Go heads to Little Cottonwood Canyon, where a recent Highland High graduate is training on one of the toughest bouldering climbs in the world.