I was in Provo this past October to see BYU play Arizona. I was staying at the Provo Marriott the night before the game. I had gone down to a different floor to get a bucket of ice, and I had some problems with the elevator. After struggling with the doors for a bit, finally the doors opened on the floor where I was headed.

There, standing right outside the elevator by himself, was AJ Dybantsa in his t-shirt and basketball shorts (looking like the teenager he was and reminding me in that way of my own teenaged son). I of course recognized him immediately and knew he was on his recruiting trip that weekend. I wanted to say something but, in the moment, I thought it would seem a little stalker-ish for a middle aged guy to recognize a 17 year old kid. And so I just stood there in the elevator for a couple of seconds or so before even taking a step to exit the elevator, the two of us just sort of looking at each other, as I tried to decide whether to say anything. I don't know if he was already used to people recognizing him, but the pause was definitely long enough for things to start feeling a little awkward.

I finally stepped past him without saying anything and took a few steps in the direction of my room. Then, remembering that I wasn't on my own floor and the ice machines were the other direction, I turned around and walked back past the elevator. AJ was inside the elevator now, and the doors were still open with him looking out at me. When we made eye contact this time, I said "Let's go Cougs!!" and nodded my head up and down. Realizing I was just a surprised fan, he broke out into a big grin. Gaining a bit of courage, I grinned back and said something like "Yeah, I know who you are!! It's good to be a Cougar!! Let's go Cougs!!". He grinned again and the elevator doors closed.

Back in my room, I had a mixture of excitement at running into him as well as some thoughts about how silly it can be the amount of focus we put on these kids. I figured he got so much attention at all of his visits that he was probably tired of people he didn't know talking to him. But seeing him since his announcement really becoming a Cougar and connecting with BYU students, players and fans makes me hope that at the time I saw him that he was already feeling good about possibly coming to BYU and that my encounter with him came off more as a fun fan encounter than a weird stalker dude. 😉

I'll admit it made me think a little about these commercials: