Utah Prep will face Montverde at the Hoophall Classic on Jan. 19 in a game that will air on ESPN2.“[Dybantsa] is a special, special talent,” tournament organizer Bobby Bates told NJ Advance Media. “They compare him to Tracy McGrady, right?Dynamic Prep is coached by former NBA standout Jermaine O’Neal and features his son, SMU commit […]
Utah Prep will face Montverde at the Hoophall Classic on Jan. 19 in a game that will air on ESPN2.“[Dybantsa] is a special, special talent,” tournament organizer Bobby Bates told NJ Advance Media. “They compare him to Tracy McGrady, right?Dynamic Prep is coached by former NBA standout Jermaine O’Neal and features his son, SMU commit Jermaine O’Neal Jr., along with fellow SMU pledge Jaden Toombs and five-star Class of 2027 wing Ryan Hampton.Adam Zagoria is a freelance reporter and Basketball Insider for NJ Advance Media. You may follow him on Twitter @AdamZagoria and check out his Website at ZAGSBLOG.com.Western Reserve features five-star Class of 2026 wing Anthony Thompson, a 16-year-old junior who recently added offers from North Carolina, BYU and Kansas.It is the second straight year that the No. 1 high school prospect in the nation will play in the Garden State, as Cooper Flagg and Montverde (FL) Academy came to the Metro Classic last year.AJ Dybantsa, the nation’s No. 1 high school basketball recruit, will play a pair of games in New Jersey this weekend at an event featuring several of the state’s top teams and several elite prospects.The 6-foot-9 Dybantsa, who signed with BYU on a record NIL deal approaching million, will play games Friday and Saturday with his Utah Prep team in the Iverson Classic Blackout Signature Series at Weequahic High School. The event honors Newark native and Stockton University Hall of Famer George Briscoe, whose son Isaiah played at Roselle Catholic and Kentucky. Tickets will be sold at the door.Dybantsa, who chose BYU over Alabama, Kansas and North Carolina, is the projected No. 1 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, and some experts believe he would be the No. 1 pick this year if he were eligible.Utah Prep also features Washington commit JJ Mandaquit, BYU commit Xavion Staton and uncommitted 2025 wing Hamza Zahran.The event also features Roman Catholic out of Philadelphia, which features Class of 2027 point guard Tyler Sutton.The event also features Bergen Catholic, ranked No. 6 in the NJ.com Top 20, No. 9 St. Rose, No. 15 St. Benedict’s, No. 18 Newark Arts and No. 20 Camden, as well as College Achieve, the Patrick School, Weequahic, Paramus Catholic and Morristown Beard.After the Iverson Classic event, Dybantsa and Utah Prep will play an event in Kentucky before traveling to the prestigious Hoophall Classic in Springfield, Mass over Martin Luther King Jr. weekend. “You’re getting a chance to watch one of the future superstars of the NBA.”Dybantsa and Utah Prep will face Dynamic Prep (TX) on Friday night at 7:30 p.m., and Western Reserve Academy (OH) on Saturday at 1.Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting us with a subscription.“I think he would,” Bates said. “If he would have been in the 2024 class, he would have been the No. 1 player. I think he’s got potential superstardom written all over him.”“I think he is a legitimate potential No. 1 player in that class when it’s all said and done,” Bates said of Thompson.
