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Bryce James, the youngest son of Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James, made headlines Wednesday when he committed to play college basketball for the Arizona Wildcats. On its surface, the move made sense, James is a 3-star shooting guard out of powerhouse Sierra Canyon and is the 257th-ranked overall recruit in his class according to 247Sports.
But there’s much more than meets the eye to James’ commitment. Like his older brother, Bronny, a number of fans and evaluators feels that Bryce James’ recruiting ranking is inflated due to his famous father. College basketball insider Kevin Sweeney had this to say about James being ranked in the top 100 according On3:
“Bryce James being a top-100 recruit is significantly worse than anything Bronny-related over the last two years.“
247Sports director of scouting Adam Finkelstein said that “Bryce James is the son of Lebron James and that means, like his older brother Bronny, he’s under the microscope. Bryce needs to be given time and space to run his own race though. He may not be the dynamic athlete or playmaker some expect at first, but he is a fundamentally sound player with solid perimeter size and a good early skill-set.”
Arizona Wildcats And Bryce James Facing Significant Criticism After Commitment
But the criticism did not stop at Sweeney.
“Bryce James doesn’t start for his high school and had 30/28/54 splits for his AAU team.. did Arizona offer or is he walking on,” one fan asked.
“Bronny was a legit high major prospect who would have been a really good player at USC had he stayed on a typical route. Bryce is … not that. His value for Arizona will mostly come off the court I suspect,” wrote another.
Of course, James does play on an absolutely loaded Sierra Canyon team. And there is value to adding LeBron James’ son to your team even beyond his play. But given the immense blow back Bronny James received for his NBA Draft slot, it’s not surprising to see something similar for Bryce. The youngest James son is not as explosive as his brother. He is not as dynamic a playmaker and is not as good a defender.
All told, it looks as if Arizona offered him a scholarship on name alone. That’s head coach Tommy Lloyd’s prerogative. But it’s still not a great look.