LeBron James, Jr: What we know about Bronny James recruitment

Bronny James‘ recruitment has been one of the hottest topics over the last month. Rightfully so, the 6-foot-2 guard, ranked No. 38 by On3, is the son of LeBron James and had one of the hottest Peach Jam performances of anyone in the event.

On August 18, Paul Biancardi wrote an ESPN+ article highlighting Bronny James and his high school teammates’ three-game European tour. They played on ESPN as the California Basketball Club. Toward the bottom of the article, Biancardi said five schools were recruiting Bronny; Southern California, Michigan, Oregon, UCLA, and Ohio State.

On3 has stayed on top of the coverage and put out what we can as it comes about. Let’s go through the intel we can share and lay out where things are.

The process

There has been a lot of uncertainty surrounding Bronny James and his recruitment. Before Biancardi’s reports, many were under the assumption James would be going the professional route. The only bit of information the media had to go on was when LeBron James told The Athletic, “My last year will be played with my son. Wherever Bronny is at, that’s where I’ll be.”

It was big news that Biancardi broke, that Bronny was looking to college. As On3 reported, each of these recruitments is relatively new, with most either starting or heating up around Peach Jam.

There have been a limited number of coaches James has spoken to; however, Zooms have been conducted with multiple schools listed. This recruitment will continue to mostly be behind closed doors.

The schools

The original report said UCLA, Michigan, Ohio State, Southern California, and Oregon were the five schools in the mix. On3 has reported that, at this time, UCLA and Michigan were not recruiting James. On3 also broke the news that Memphis was involved.

Memphis: On3 broke the new Memphis has officially offered Bronny James. James is now teammates with head coach Penny Hardaway’s son Ashton Hardaway at Chatsworth (CA) Sierra Canyon. No visit date has been made public yet. On3 reported Hardaway watching Bronny during Peach Jam.

Southern California: USC has offered Bronny and is going through the process with him. The Trojans are also in the mix with Isaiah Collier and would take both players. No visit date has been made public yet.

Ohio State: Ohio State has not officially offered Bronny James. However, On3 broke the news that James might be taking his first college visit to Columbus on September 3 as the Buckeyes face Notre Dame.

Oregon: Oregon has not publicly offered; however, as On3 reported earlier in August, the Ducks have a lot of smoke around them heading before taking visits. My expert pick is currently with Oregon, with a 55 confidence rating.

Stay tuned to On3 as we stay on top of the story and continue to bring you the information we can as it breaks.