NBA All-Star Devin Booker explains the time he helped recruit BYU’s AJ Dybantsa

Four-time NBA All-Star Devin Booker’s foray into college basketball recruiting lasted only a few minutes.

He was sitting courtside before his Phoenix Suns played the Lakers in Los Angeles earlier this year. Next to him was the No. 1 player in the country, AJ Dybantsa.

So Booker figured he’d throw in his pitch as to why the country’s best prospect should play for BYU coach Kevin Young.

“I talked to him. He was at one of our games, a Laker game courtside,” Booker told The Salt Lake Tribune. “After, we tapped in on social media.”

Booker’s first recruiting battle ended up working out.

Dybantsa committed to BYU this week — believing in Young’s NBA pedigree. Young’s track record of working with future Hall of Famers like Booker, Chris Paul and Kevin Durant moved the needle. As for Booker, he was just happy to help.

“That’s groundbreaking, you know that moves ground,” Booker said of Young signing Dybantsa. “And you know, it definitely makes sense.”

Booker has been one of Young’s most vocal advocates in the league since the coach took the job at BYU. Young was an assistant in Phoenix for three seasons with Booker — commanding an offense that went to the NBA Finals and made multiple playoff runs.

Booker flourished in that time too. He made multiple All-NBA teams and was fourth in MVP voting in 2021.

“Just having the whole Finals experience [with Young], making that run, winning the Western Conference Finals,” Booker said. “It’s a vital part of my career, and I appreciate him a lot.”

Young had NBA head coaching job offers this offseason, but turned it down to coach at BYU. He felt the college basketball travel schedule suited him and his family better.

But Booker thought there was something more. He believed Young wouldn’t have gone to college if he couldn’t win, and recruit, at the highest level.

“Not too surprised. I mean, I know what’s going on out here,” Booker said. “It’s a beautiful state out here. Beautiful, man. Great people, great fan support. Dope place for him and his family.

“I know what a competitor he is,” he continued. “What he wants to do here. That’s to do the biggest things: win championships, bring the best players in, have the best environment to get in.”

Booker credited Young with a change in his own offensive philosophy. He would go into film sessions with Young, Paul and then-head coach Monty Williams on a daily basis to talk about offense and being more controlled in the flow of the game. Fewer sets, that was Young’s vision. It helped Booker up his scoring averages to nearly 28 points a night.

“He has an understanding that, you know, it’s not always just set plays,” Booker said. “He likes to teach actions and just recurring situations that happen on the offensive side of the ball — that happen more than just running a set play.

“I always appreciate his level of detail with that. Because I think it’s a big part of the game. Now, instead of running sets, [I had] freedom of movement, controlled freedom. And he taught that well.”

Booker said Young worked closely with Paul. The 19-year veteran also helped recruit Dybantsa to BYU. Paul worked out with the prospect in Los Angeles last summer.

“It was an ongoing conversation [with Young],” Booker said. “Especially with Chris Paul also, which people know how obsessive he is about the game. Us three, or us four with Coach Monty, would all sit down and just break down what we’re going to do from game to game. And what adjustments we’re going to make. It was high-level basketball.”