Hoops hero: Brockton's Dybantsa visits Boys and Girls Club, shines on court in homecoming

DORCHESTER – Basketball wasn’t the only thing on AJ Dybantsa’s mind this week.

His new team, Prolific Prep, made trips to Kentucky, Georgia, South Carolina, Nevada and Missouri in December. When the California-based hoops haven announced its weekend stay in Massachusetts, the 16-year-old from Brockton had the trip circled.

Dybantsa, the nation’s top recruit in the Class of 2025, posted 25 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals in Prolific’s 91-49 win over Orangeville Prep (of Mono, Ontario) at BC High on Thursday. It was prelude to a star-studded matchup against a Monteverde Academy team led by Maine’s Cooper Flagg, the top player in the 2024 class, in the HoopHall Classic at Springfield College on Sunday at 7:30 on ESPN2.

Dybantsa doesn't have much downtime between games.

A few hours before Thursday night's game, Dybantsa made a stop at the Boys and Girls Club on Warren Avenue in Brockton to give away sneakers and T-shirts. He was scheduled to do the same at the Boys and Girls Club on Talbot Avenue in Dorchester on Friday.

“I didn’t just come back to play two games, I came back to give back to community,” Dybantsa said. “(The kids) look up to me. I’m from Boston and Brockton, so being able to give back is special.”

In honor of the homecoming, Dybantsa’s parents, Ace and Chelsea, were recognized at center court before the opening tip Thursday night. Dybantsa jerseys were available for the near-capacity crowd to purchase.

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“Tonight meant a lot, being at BC High,” said head coach Ryan Bernardi, a Milton native and BC High alum. "What a great crowd of support. It speaks to the person AJ is, the amount of people that came to see him. It’s a really cool thing.”

Dybantsa walked into a transition 3-pointer from the right wing on his first touch to net Prolific Prep's first points of the evening. He scored 14 of his game-high 25 in the first half, as his team took a 45-23 lead at intermission.

On the final play before checking out for the evening late in the fourth quarter, a right-to-left crossover carved a path through the defense for the junior to rise above the rim for right-handed slam off two feet. He soaked in the highlight for a second with a pack of student-photographers from BC High positioned under the basket.

“It was a good win," Dybantsa said. "It was just preparing us for the game on Sunday. (Monteverde Academy is a) better opponent, the No. 1 team in the country. We’ve got something to prove.”

Dybantsa won Gatorade Player of the Year in his final year of high school hoops in Massachusetts, averaging 19.1 points, 9.6 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 2.5 blocks per game on 60.8 percent shooting from the field and 41 percent from 3-point land in his freshman season at St. Sebastian's School in Needham. The projected top pick in the 2026 NBA Draft currently holds a collection of college offers from some of the nation's blue blood programs such as Kentucky, North Carolina, UConn, Georgetown, Texas and others.

Said Bernardi, "To bring AJ back home, and bring our team from all over the world, to this special place, it was a special moment for me, Carl (Pierre, a 2017 BC High alum and one of the top players in the Eagles' history who was in attendance on Thursday), AJ and the Dybantsas. We want to express our gratitude to BC High for allowing this to happen.”