The NBA Summer League brings us top-tier battles between the No. 1 and No. 2 overall picks every year. It’s a chance to see the potential faces of the league go at it for the first time in some high-profile prospect battles.

But in 2026, we won’t have to wait until July for that matchup.

On Saturday, the college basketball world will witness the most hyped matchup of the regular season. Kansas vs. BYU. Darryn Peterson vs. AJ Dybantsa. In other words, the battle between the biggest contenders for the No. 1 overall pick.

These two went up against each other in high school as the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked players in the country. Dybantsa and Peterson are two NBA prospects with generational upside, highlighting one of the best classes in recent memory.

While Peterson has dealt with injuries this season, having appeared in just 10 games, he is still a clear superstar when on the court, averaging 21.6 points and 4.6 rebounds on incredible 49-42-82 shooting splits.

Dybantsa, on the other hand, has seen more action, instantly becoming the best freshman in BYU history. The 6-foot-9 wing set the Cougars’ freshman record for most points in a game, dropping 43 in a win over Utah last week.

There’s no doubt that this is the most hyped individual duel of the 2025-26 season, but is it also the biggest prospect duel in college basketball history? It’s so rare for the projected top-two picks to face off that it just might be.

On the surface, the sheer expectation for the 2026 NBA Draft tells us that these two should take over the league as the faces of American basketball. The NBA is dominated by foreign talent, but most of the lottery features talent from the United States.

Peterson’s blend of pure scoring while impacting winning in an unbelievable way has many comparing him to Kobe Bryant. At 6-foot-6 with an estimated wingspan of 6-foot-10, he is your ideal guard with superstar upside. When he plays, it’s almost effortless.

Dybantsa, on the other hand, poses an even higher floor at 6-foot-9 with a seven-foot wingspan and out-of-this-world athleticism. Averaging 23.6 points (first in the nation), 6.7 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.3 steals per game, he has elite potential as a three-level scorer, but more importantly, as a two-way superstar.

When looking at some of the past prospect battles, the two that come to mind are Magic Johnson vs. Larry Bird in the 1979 NCAA National Championship, the highest-rated college basketball game ever. The other, although featuring two players who didn’t quite live up to expectations in the NBA, is Jabari Parker vs. Andrew Wiggins in 2014, who went first off the board in June.

There are a few others that come to mind (i.e., Paolo Banchero vs. Chet Holmgren, Anthony Davis vs. Bradley Beal, etc.), but the Dybantsa-Peterson crossover might just be the most anticipated in recent history.

Bird vs. Magic will likely remain at the top, but since the turn of the century, no battle has seemed to have as much magnitude as the one coming this Saturday.