Gatorade State Player of the Year in Massachusetts as a freshman. Gold medalist of the US U16 team in Mexico. Leading in points per game (25.8) during the EYBL Peach Jam while playing. Nike NIL deal. No. 1 player in the class of 2025. AJ Dibanza.
“Playmaker first, two-way player,” DiBanza said of his personal scouting report. “Defense and offense can do a little bit of everything: rebound, score, pass, finish. Just a team player and selfless.”
We’ve been following AJ since he was an eighth grader originally from Brockton, MA, documenting his meteoric rise over the past few years. And despite being reclassified in October, Dibanza clearly remains one of the top prospects in the country. Please draw your own conclusions. With a relentless drive and shot-making ability to match an equally eccentric personality, it was a no-brainer that the best player in his class would pick up the pen to help officially reboot our storied Basketball Diary.
But more on that later. This is now. And now it’s time for Dibanza. He made that claim not too long ago.
“When I was in third grade, I dreamed of going to the NBA, but it wasn’t really realistic until the year of Covid. That’s when I started taking it crazy seriously,” says Dibanza. “There were no gyms and I trained outside every day. I just flew. That’s when the ratings started coming in, that’s when the attention started, and I said, This may be true.»
After dominating local New England competition as a freshman with 19.1 points, 9.6 rebounds and 2.5 blocks, that came true last June when Dibanza opted to transfer to national powerhouse Prolific Prep. The increased competition, as well as moving in with a host family versus living on the opposite coast as your immediate family, will be a difficult transition for any teenager.
“The hardest thing (about being AJ) is just that people forget that I’m a kid,” Dibanza tells SLAM. “Like, I’m 17, I have a life outside of basketball. But they just see the internet side of me, so they just think it’s all flowers and butterflies, when it’s really not.”
As Dibanza finds her footing, she relies on the life lessons and work ethic instilled in her by her Congolese father and Jamaican mother. “Nothing is given to you, everything is earned,” he says of his parents’ reminders. “It was huge for me in the development of my life.”
Colleges are pouring in, the League is already in sight, and he just signed on the dotted line with The Swoosh. SLAM has been covering high school hoopers for a minute (30 years, tbh!) and we can safely say that the next high school superstar of our time is here, and his name is AJ Dybantsa.
Portraits by Marcus Stevens.
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