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Carmelo Anthony's 2003 season at Syracuse was the best of any freshman in basketball history. Surrounded by a solid supporting cast, Anthony rose to stardom and won the school's only national title.
For years, freshman have come close - but haven't quite replicated what Anthony accomplished. Kevin Durant at Texas; Zion Williamson and Cooper Flagg at Duke; Karl-Anthony Towns at Kentucky.
The latest freshman to attempt to match Anthony's excellence is Brockton, Massachusetts native AJ Dybantsa. One of the most sought-after recruits in a half-century, the 6-foot-9 forward is poised to be the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft if he leaves college this April.
His choice to go to Brigham Young University (BYU) - the Mormon-run institution in Utah - was peculiar, considering the school's lack of basketball pedigree. But like Anthony, Dybantsa's supporting cast is strong - with three starters returning from a team that fell to Alabama in the Sweet 16 last year.
Dybantsa came home this weekend - traveling to Boston's TD Garden to show NBA scouts what he could offer.
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BYU freshman phenom AJ Dybantsa returned to Boston to put on a show for his home town
Despite leading all scorers, the Massachusetts native could not lead BYU to victory over UConn
Almost instantly after his freshman year of high school ball, Dybantsa was named the top recruit in his class.
He left Massachusetts to play for more prestigious basketball-focused schools like Prolific Prep in Napa, California and Utah Prep in Hurricane, Utah.
Offers came flooding in. Elite basketball schools like Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky and more attempted to bring him into their ranks.
Instead, he announced on First Take that he would be going to the mountains of Provo, Utah to make a name for himself at BYU. Rather than join one of the more accomplished institutions going after his signature, he chose the Cougars - a team that hasn't gone further than the Sweet 16 in the last 40 years.
'Nobody bothers me,' Dybantsa told Yahoo Sports. 'I'm in Utah. Nobody knows where that's at. But that's like, they don't have no idea who I am. They just ask me if I play basketball.'
Dybantsa, for what it's worth, made a smart choice. He didn't take the route of Ben Simmons - who chose LSU and could not succeed there.
Instead, he's playing alongside quality talent that may make it on an NBA court - or, at the very least professionally. Guard Richie Saunders and forwards Keba Keita and Mihailo Boskovic played well under first-year coach Kevin Young last season.
So, naturally, with Dybantsa coming in, BYU received plenty of preseason hype as a potential national title contender.
Listed at 6-foot-9, Dybantsa was one of the most sought-after recruits in the country
Dybantsa chose BYU over traditional basketball powerhouses like Kansas and North Carolina
Except, the reality hasn't quite matched those expectations. BYU is undefeated, yes, but has shown weakness at times.
A tighter-than-normal opener against a rebuilding Villanova program led to a blowout win over Holy Cross and a comeback against Delaware from a halftime deficit.
So, the prospect of playing a top-three UConn team that won back-to-back national titles in 2023 and 2024 promised to be the toughest test of Dybantsa's career.
It was. At least, at first it was.
It appears the pressure of the moment got to him. Dybantsa opened the game shooting 1-for-6 as the Cougars could not put the ball in the net from deep. Corner three after corner three fell short or went flying long in the first half for BYU while the Huskies were draining triples with ease.
After all, Dybantsa wasn't the only one 'coming home'. UConn senior Alex Karaban, a native of Southboro, Massachusetts, was one of three Huskies with 11 points in the first half.
Dybantsa, meanwhile, couldn't connect. The jeering was loud. After he missed a left-corner three well-long with 6:45 remaining, the majority UConn crowd began chanting 'o-ver-ra-ted' as he shrugged his shoulders and kept playing.
Dybantsa seriously struggled in the first half - hitting only one of his six shot attempts
UConn transfer guard Silas Demary Jr (2) was one of three Huskies with 21 points
He didn't hit his second shot from the field until six minutes into the second half. By then, the Cougars were down 17 and in need of a run.
Dybantsa's first 3-pointer came immediately after, with the star fixing to try and bring BYU back in the game by himself.
At first, the Huskies managed to keep their distance. Georgia transfer Silas Demary Jr showed his offensive proficiency all over the court while big man Tarris Reed bullied BYU in the paint. Karaban also saw one of his most efficient shooting nights ever.
But UConn got into foul trouble and put BYU in the double-bonus with over seven minutes remaining. The Cougars began trapping the Huskies and forced errors - all while hitting seven straight shots to cut the deficit to five.
Back and forth down the stretch came both teams. A clutch triple from senior Dawson Baker cut the game to 84-82 UConn with 20 seconds to go. After Dayton transfer Malachi Smith missed his first free throw, he sank a second to make it a three-point game.
Up the court came the Cougars. Baylor transfer Robert Wright III drove left and had the ball poked free by Demary and stolen by UConn guard Solo Ball. He sank one of two free throws to put the game out of reach.
