Today’s landscape of college basketball is a big change from what it used to be. These days, kids can get NIL money to attend a certain school. That didn’t used to be the case for a lot of current and former NBA players. A lot of them would have been able to make a lot of money had they been in college.
One of the best college recruits in the country is AJ Dybantsa. He is listed as a five-star recruit and is rated as the top recruit in the country for the class of 2025. He is from the state of Utah, so that makes his collegiate decision a lot easier to accept.
Dybantsa decided to choose BYU for his collegiate choice. He likely will only be there for one year before he declares for the NBA Draft. Part of the reason he chose the Cougars is because of the large sum of NIL money that they gave him to sign with him, which is reportedly $7 million.
Former NBA player Jeff Teague had a wild take regarding Dybantsa’s decision to play basketball for BYU, which notoriously has some strict rules for its students.
Jeff Teague on AJ Dybantsa’s $7M NIL deal with BYU:
“I would’ve went to BYU too. I could go a year without buns.”
What 💀💀💀 (via @club520podcast) pic.twitter.com/6BK873ynM0
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) December 16, 2024
With BYU being a Mormon school, they have some unique rules. Some of them include abstaining from alcohol, caffeine, and any sort of promiscuous activities. Teague is saying that he would be able to do that for six months while he collects a very nice chunk of change in exchange for that.
NIL rules have wildly changed the college basketball recruiting landscape. Top recruits are now choosing whichever school will give them the most money while they plan to spend just one year in preparation for the NBA. Of course, sometimes those top recruits don’t end up panning out in the NBA, so collecting this NIL money is important to them.
Teague was not able to get any NIL money back in his day. He went to Wake Forest and played well before being drafted into the league where he had a long NBA career, which allowed him to make plenty of money. He was able to collect all of his money as a professional.
As far as Dybantsa is concerned, he should be able to make plenty of money in the NBA, too. He just needs to keep his work ethic high so he won’t be a bust at the next level.
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