Highly-rated 17-year-old small forward Anicet ‘AJ’ Dybantsa Jr is currently on the island finalising paperwork to become a Jamaican citizen.
Listed at six feet and eight inches tall, Dybantsa is of Jamaican heritage as his mother, Chelsea, hails from Hanover, while his father is a Congolese native.
Founder of PHASE 1 basketball academy, Wayne Dawkins, stated that the move is to get the talented hoopster ready for the Nike Hopes Summit, which will be hosted at the Moda Centre in Portland, Oregon, on April 13.
He will be representing Jamaica and the world team at the prestigious event.
“This young man, AJ Dybantsa, coming to Jamaica is significant on several levels. One of his main purposes is to get naturalised so he can represent Jamaica in several prestigious events like the upcoming Nike Hopes Summit,” Dawkins stated.
Dybantsa represented the United States of America at last year’s FIBA Under-16 Americas Championship in Merida, Mexico, where he was part of the gold-medal winning team while averaging 13.8 points per game.
BIG PERFORMANCE
Dawkins expects a big performance from Dybantsa, who will also represent the World Team at the tournament.
“The last time the world team defeated Team USA was 10 years ago, and right now, with AJ on the team, they’re favourites to win. It will be quite an upset for the USA, especially having their MVP from the under-16 switching teams, which I believe will be part of why they will eventually lose,” Dawkins shared.
He also lauded Dybantsa, who gifted the PHASE 1 Academy players with basketball gear. He shared that having a player like Dybantsa, currently ranked at No. 1 for the 2025 NBA draft, is valuable for Jamaica’s local basketball players.
“We’re very fortunate to be able to connect with a role model in AJ Dybantsa and if we’re going to inspire and encourage the youths here, then having him here is huge. They brought gears and shoes as they’ve seen the work we’ve put in to try and elevate the game of basketball,” Dawkins said.
orane.buchanan@gleanerjm.com
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