After committing to Arizona in January, Bryce James, the youngest son of LeBron James and younger brother of Bronny James, officially signed with the Wildcats on Thursday.
“What’s going on Wildcat nation, can’t wait to get there and start working. Bear down,” Bryce said in a post on X.
Bryce has officially signed 🐻⬇️ pic.twitter.com/3uJy8cAOXF
— Arizona Basketball (@ArizonaMBB) April 17, 2025
James, who will turn 18 in June, is a three-star recruit and the No. 257 player in the Class of 2025, per the 247Sports Composite. The 6-foot-5 shooting guard played for Sierra Canyon in California and chose Arizona over Ohio State and Duquesne.
James was part of the state-title winning Sierra Canyon team, scoring three points on nine shots with five rebounds and two assists in the championship game. He averaged 6.9 points and 2.2 rebounds in 14 games last summer playing for his dad’s AAU program, Strive for Greatness, on the Nike EYBL circuit. He then averaged 5.6 points and 2.8 rebounds in five games at the Peach Jam in July.
The Wildcats’ 2025 recruiting class ranks seventh nationally, per 247Sports, behind Houston, UConn, Kentucky, Arkansas, North Carolina and BYU. Bryce was the second commitment in Arizona’s 2025 class after four-star wing Dwayne Aristode. Five-star recruits Koa Peat and Brayden Burries — the Nos. 8 and 11 overall players in the class, respectively — round out the class.
Bryce’ older brother, Bronny, played one season of college basketball at USC before the Los Angeles Lakers selected him with the 55th pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. In October, LeBron and Bronny became the first father-son duo to play in an NBA game together.
Bryce James’ scouting report
As a prospect, Bryce is less developed than his older brother was at this point in their respective careers — which is notable, since Bronny was still relatively ineffective as a high-major freshman. Both are about the same size, but Bronny has always been more physically developed than Bryce, both from a strength and athleticism perspective.
Given what Bryce has shown thus far in terms of productivity, it would be shocking if he played a major role as a freshman next season. Before committing to Arizona, the only two major players in Bryce’s recruitment were Duquesne — where LeBron’s close friend and former high school teammate, Dru Joyce III, coaches — and Ohio State, which is less than two hours away from LeBron’s hometown of Akron, Ohio.
This is not to say that Bryce will never be an impactful college player, but even compared to Bronny — who would have benefitted developmentally from at least one, if not more, additional years in college — this will be a long-term process for the Wildcats. Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd has proven to be an apt talent evaluator and developer, but this commitment feels much more like a multi-season developmental play than one geared toward meaningful contributions next season.
In the EYBL this summer, Bryce had multiple contests where he hardly registered on a box score. That just isn’t going to cut it at the high-major level, and especially not at Arizona, which won at least 27 games in each of Lloyd’s first three seasons as coach.
In terms of play style, Bryce is even more of a strict off-ball player than Bronny. Bryce is marginally taller than Bronny, and given his age, there’s absolutely the potential he keeps growing (although it seems unlikely he’ll be 6-foot-9 like LeBron). That frame, combined with the shooting touch Bryce has showcased at various lower levels, suggests he could eventually become a perimeter floor-spacer, although he’ll need to become much more coordinated defensively to guard opposing high-major wings.
But even that projection is more predicated on Bryce’s tools than his actual on-court production to date. There’s no understating how far Bryce is from being a productive high-major freshman, not to mention a potential NBA player one day. — Brendan Marks, college basketball writer
(Photo: Keith Birmingham / MediaNews Group / Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images)
