Can A Wu-Tang Clan Reference Help Kansas State Land AJ Dybantsa?
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The Kansas State basketball program may have a chance of landing the nation's top recruit for 2025 because of its coach's last name.
The Wildcats are among the teams forward AJ Dybantsa is considering playing for next season. His father, Ace, puts K-State atop the list because of coach Jerome Tang.
Well, because he likes the last name.
The elder Dybantsa is a huge fan of the iconic rap group Wu-Tang Clan according to Zagsblog.com.
"First off I like the name. I’m a big Wu-Tang fan," Ace Dybantsa said. "He just told me A.J. is going to play freely and have a good team around him. And I kind of like what he was saying. So we’re going to give them a look.”
The 6-foot-9 Dybantsa, who averaged 22.6 points during the Elite Youth Basketball League, joins Darryn Peterson (No. 3 in 2025) and four-star wing Cam Ward as recent top-tier recruits to have interest in the Wildcats.
Dybantsa is set to visit Kansas State the weekend of Aug. 30. The Wildcats football team opens the season that Saturday against UT-Martin, but the hope is to gain ground with Dybantsa.
Perhaps Method Man, the Gza, the Rza and Ghost Face Killah play a role in that happening. Landing Dybantsa would be an outstanding get for Tang and the Wildcats.
And all because of the coach's last name.
Shandel Richardson is the publisher of Kansas State Wildcats On SI. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com
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Shandel has covered the NBA since 2010, with previous stops at The Athletic and South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He has covered six NBA Finals, one Super Bowl, the NCAA basketball tournament. He has also been a beat writer for the Miami Hurricanes and contributed on every major beat in South Florida since 2003, including the Miami Dolphins and Miami Marlins. He can also be read in the Sportsbook Review for gambling coverage from around the NBA. A native of Bloomington, Illinois, Shandel attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He's also worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Kansas City Star. TWITTER: @ShandelRich EMAIL: shandelrich@gmail.com You can subscribe to our YouTube channel here Follow all of our Miami Heat coverage on Facebook here