Former Michigan star Jalen Rose makes recruiting pitch to Bronny James

No other prospect in high school basketball draws attention quite like Bronny James.

As the younger son of NBA legend LeBron James and a social media star himself, Bronny draws attention in almost everything he does — both on an off the court. The news recently has been that the first of LeBron’s sons is starting to see his recruitment heat up as he heads into his senior season. Bronny checks in as the No. 44 overall player in the On3 Consensus, and national recruiting analyst Jamie Shaw follow up a recent ESPN report about the programs recruiting Bronny with intel of his own.

Three programs are currently in the mix with James, according to Shaw’s reporting: Oregon, USC and Ohio State.

Per the ESPN report, Michigan, UCLA and others have also shown interest, which led to a segment on NBA Today, with multiple members of the show making pitches for him to attend their alma maters. First up was Fab Five star and longtime NBA player Jalen Rose, who put in his good word for Michigan and head coach Juwan Howard, a close friend of Rose’s since they played together in Ann Arbor.

Jalen Rose makes his pitch

“First and foremost Bronny, your parents don’t have to get to know the head coach,” Rose said. “Because they won a championship with him in Miami. And you want to pick a school with a head coach that knows what it’s like to play and perform on that level to get you there.”

Rose added that there are additional perks in returning back to the Midwest, where Bronny was born while LeBron played in Cleveland.

“Second, you went to L.A. to make your name. Come back to the Midwest and show your game,” Rose continued. “And here’s the other thing: You can go kick at that big house in Ohio when your parents are on the West Coast. Think about that on the days off. But in all honesty, all of the sudden you to Ann Arbor, it’s a very quaint college town.

… You ain’t got to worry about being followed by paparazzi, you know what I’m saying. You get a chance to wear a backpack, go to class, be on campus. And go to the Big House, where there are 120,000 chanting your name, chanting the football anthem and singing the best fight song in the history of collegiate sports.”

Bronny James receives Oregon prediction

The Wolverines might be on the outside looking in though, as Shaw put in a prediction on Tuesday afternoon for James to ultimately choose Oregon. The Ducks are Nike’s flagship school and have deep connections to the James family, as the company has sold LeBron’s signature shoe and apparel line since he came into the league in 2003.

The On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine (RPM) currently gives Oregon a 99.5 percent chance of landing James’ commitment.