A.J. Dybansta, the nation's top prospect who is still undecided on his college destination, leads race in the 2024-25 Mr. Basketball USA Tracker powered by Ballislife.com. The 6-foot-8 small forward at Utah Prep (Hurricane, Utah) edged Cam Boozer of Columbus (Fla.), the 2022-23 Mr. Basketball USA choice, in a tight race among 22 candidates. The Mr. Basketball USA Tracker is now in its eighteenth season.
RELATED: All-Time Mr. Basketball USA Winners | Final 2024-25 Mr. Basketball USA Tracker
As a sophomore in 2022-23, Duke-bound Cameron Boozer of preseason FAB 50 No. 1 Columbus (Miami, Fla.) made history by becoming the first sophomore ever to be bestowed with the most prestigious individual honor in high school basketball.
Boozer was a surprise winner, not because of his talent-level, but because no sophomore in the history of the game had ever been touted so highly, not even all-timers such as Lew Alcindor or LeBron James. As a junior in 2023-24, Boozer went from the hunter to the hunted, as players as Dylan Harper (Rutgers) and Cooper Flagg (Duke) emerged as the top Mr. Basketball USA candidates alongside the returning national player of the year. After Flagg re-classified to the 2024 class and led his team to a wire-to-wire finish in the FAB 50 National Team rankings, he emerged as the 2024 Mr. Basketball USA honoree.
In October of 2023, A.J. Dybansta, an incredibly talented wing who transferred from St. Sebastian's School (Needham, Mass.) to Prolific Prep (Napa, Calif.), was another elite player who re-classified, in his case from the 2026 to the 2025 class. Dybansta emerged as a serious national player of the year candidate as well and wound up No. 4 in the final 2023-24 Mr. Basketball USA balloting behind Flagg, Harper (No. 2) and Boozer (No. 3).
As a senior, Dybansta is now at Utah Prep (Hurricane, Utah) and for the second consecutive season Boozer has serious competition for top individual honors for 2024-25. Dybansta has emerged as the nation's top prospect and some feel he is the best long-term wing prospect to come down the pike in quite some time, perhaps since 2017 Mr. Basketball USA honoree Michael Porter Jr. of Nathan Hale (Seattle, Wash.). Dybansta and Boozer were the only two candidates to appear on each of the 10 ballots that make up the Mr. Basketball USA Tracker panel. When the votes were tabulated, it's Dybansta leading the way with a slight edge in the Mr. Basketball USA Tracker powered by Ballislife.com over the most accomplished high school player we've seen in quite some time.
Dybansta received six first-place votes (good for 10 points each), three second-place votes (nine each) and one fourth-place vote for a total of 94 points. Boozer received three first-place votes, five second-place votes and two third-place votes for a total of 91 points.
One of the first place votes went to Darryn Peterson, a 6-foot-5 guard who replaces Dybansta as the go-to scorer at Prolific Prep. Interestingly, Peterson also got two second-place votes and two third-place votes, but didn't appear at all on three ballots and garnered 57 total points. Perhaps in the next round of voting, Peterson will appear on more ballots as the season wears on, if the start to his season for the preseason No. 8 ranked Crew is any indication. Peterson helped lift Prolific Prep to a 66-54 victory over preseason No. 1 Columbus and Boozer with 33 points, eight rebounds, four assists, two steals and three blocks, as Prolific Prep overcame an early 19-7 deficit.
Prolific Prep is currenty 7-1 heading into the Five for the Fight Hoopest in Utah this week, with its only loss coming against CIA Bella Vista (Scottsdale, Ariz.) in a game in which the Kansas-bound Peterson did not play because of a foot injury.
"He's the best guard in the country and making an argument as the best player overall, said panel member Ani Umana of 5StateHoopReport.com and The Field of 68. "A guard with good positional size and scoring prowess, Darryn is also a multi-level scorer that plays efficiently on or off the ball. Leading Prolific past No. 1 ranked Columbus in Florida to me is just the beginning of statement performances he’ll have throughout the high school season."
For Boozer is was the first game of the season, as the Explorers begin 0-1, but all is not lost as there are a plethora of head-to-head matchups involving many of the top candidates in the weeks to come. On Tuesday at the Five for the Flight, Dybansta's No. 14 Utah Prep team will take on Chris Cenac and his No. 2 team at Link Academy (Branson, Mo.), which will look to continue its winning ways in light of Columbus dropping a game.
Boozer and Dybanta will go head-to-head on Jan. 31 a week after Columbus faces defending FAB 50 National Champ and preseason No. 3 Montverde Academy of Florida.
Cenac, still undecided as is Dybansta, came in sixth in the preseason Mr. Basketball USA voting with 33 points. Cenac will announce his college decision on Nov. 26, with Dybansta likely to announce his choice before the turn of the year.
Coming in fifth place while appearing on more ballots than both Cenac (six) and Peterson (seven) is Brandon McCoy Jr., who many feel is the top-rated 2026 prospect in the country. The St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.) 6-foot-4 shooting guard appeared on nine ballots, including two third-place and two fourth-place votes. Most of the 10-man panel is not quite ready to put him on the tier of Dybanta or Boozer, but recognize his explosive talents. With a big season, he could move up the ladder just as Peterson quickly has.
The other 16 candidates not mentioned above will have a chance to make noise as well. For the second consecutive year, Boozer has some company and its quality company indeed.
Editor's Note: Click on the "+" sign next to each player's number to view how many first, second, third or fourth place votes he got and his overall point total.
| Rank | Prev. | Name | High School | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | A.J. Dybansta (10) | Utah Prep (UT) | 6 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 94 |
| 2 | 3 | Cam Boozer (10) | Columbus (FL) | 3 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 91 |
| 3 | NR | Darryn Peterson (7) | Prolific Prep (CA) | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 57 |
| 4 | 18T | Brandon McCoy (9) | St. John Bosco (CA) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 55 |
| 5 | NR | Chris Cenac (6) | Link Academy (MO) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 33 |
| 6 | NR | Caleb Wilson (4) | Holy Innocents (GA) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 24 |
| 7T | NR | Nate Ament (4) | Highland (VA) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 22 |
| 7T | 18T | Brayden Burries (4) | Roosevelt (CA) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 22 |
| 9 | 15T | Koa Peat (2) | Perry (AZ) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 16 |
| 10 | NR | Caleb Holt (2) | Grayson (GA) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| 11 | 13T | Meleek Thomas (1) | OTE (GA) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 |
| 12T | NR | Darius Acuff (1) | IMG Academy (FL) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| 12T | NR | Cayden Boozer (1) | Columbus (FL) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| 12T | NR | Kingston Flemmings (1) | Brennan (TX) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| 15T | NR | Nick Khamenia (1) | Harvard-Westlake (CA) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 15T | NR | Baba Oladotun (1) | Blake (MD) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 15T | 21T | Tyran Stokes (1) | Notre Dame (CA) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 15T | 21T | Tounde Yessoufou (1) | St. Joseph (CA) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 17 | NR | Malachi Moreno (1) | Great Crossing (KY) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 18T | NR | Mikel Brown Jr. (1) | DME Academy (FL) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 18T | NR | Christian Collins (1) | St. John Bosco (CA) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
About Mr. Basketball USA Tracker Panel
Ballislife.com's panel of 10 experts, which includes five McDonald’s All-American selection committee members, casts its vote for the top national player of the year candidates. Each panelist lists his top seven candidates regardless of class. The votes are then tabulated on a 10-point scoring system with a first-place vote equaling 10 points, a second-place vote earning nine points and down to four points for a seventh-place vote. The number in parenthesis refers to the numbers of ballots on which a player appeared and previous rankings refers to position in last season's final tracker.
