Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd praises Bryce James amid redshirt season for Wildcats

Bryce James — LeBron James’ younger son — hasn’t appeared in a game this season for No. 1 Arizona, but that hasn’t stopped him from impressing. Speaking to Chancellor Johnson, Wildcats coach Tommy Lloyd confirmed James is redshirting this season.

“Bryce has made huge progress,” Lloyd said. “He’s been with us through the summer and now. The redshirting decision was a long play to give Bryce the most options in his career as his career unfolds. I have a real strong belief that Bryce is gonna be a contributor at Arizona in the near future.”

James, the 324th-ranked player in the 2025 high school recruiting class according to the 247Sports Composite, only turned 18 in June, putting him on the younger side of the class. That played a role in the decision, Lloyd said.

“He’s really shown a lot of progress, not only learning our system but just physically maturing,” Lloyd said. “One of the things I don’t think people understand is he was kind of a year behind, age-wise, his class, and when you’re a year behind your natural age class, we know some of these kids are a year other than two older. … Part of the thinking was, ‘Let’s slow it down and let Bryce’s physical development catch up with his peers,’ and it really has.”

James, a shooting guard listed at 6’5″ and 195 pounds, committed to Arizona over Ohio State and Duquesne. Early in the season, Lloyd said a redshirt year was on the table, but a final decision was yet to be made.

Arizona (22-0, 9-0 Big 12) had the country’s No. 2 recruiting class last year, headlined by five-star prospects Brayden Burries and Koa Peat and four-star guard Dwayne Aristode. Burries leads the team with 15.3 points per game, followed by Peat (14.8) and senior guard Jaden Bradley (13.9). Add in the return of Anthony Dell’Orso and the addition of Ivan Kharchenkov, who had played professionally in Europe, and there was a logjam ahead of James, too.

Still, Lloyd has been impressed with James’ attitude despite not playing.

“We love having Bryce around,” Lloyd said. “What I’ll say about Bryce is he’s a normal person, a normal kid. He’s a great teammate. He draws no extra attention to himself. That’s all from the outside. Those people do it, but on a day-to-day basis, he’s a really valued member of our team, and he’s a great young man.”