Bronny James, LeBron’s son, ranks Ohio State basketball among his top three schools to attend



COLUMBUS, Ohio — LeBron James’ oldest son, Bronny James, has narrowed his options down to three schools, according to the L.A. Times’ Luca Evans.

Bronny James is a four-star recruit in the 2023 class, rated as the nation’s No. 36 player and No. 11 combo guard while playing at Sierra Canyon High School in California. He’s dwindled his choices down to OSU, Oregon and USC.

Based on his ranking alone, James is a caliber of player the Buckeyes would go after on the recruiting trail. So far, he’s only taken one visit, attending the season-opening football game against Notre Dаme, where he was accompanied by his father, plus plenty of other celebrities and former players. He took pictures in an Ohio State jersey and met with the coaching staff like any other recruit. But he isn’t just some other recruit, as his nаme will also bring a level of notoriety to whatever program he chooses while also being an understood pit stop before fulfilling LeBron’s dream of playing alongside his son in the NBA.

Not much came from that September visit. As things stand, OSU’s 2023 class holds four commits as a full class expected to join a young roster. Four seniors are guaranteed to be gone after this season. Given the nature of college basketball, that math could eventually change, whether that means having someone leave via the transfer portal or Brice Sensabaugh continuing to trend toward being a one-and-done prоspect as Malaki Branham was last season.

Would that open the door to making James a Buckeye? At least from a numbers standpoint, it surely would. But then the question is whether traveling down that road is worth it given the attention that would come with it vs. the caliber of player you’re getting.

There has been no real plan to bring James to Columbus as a member of Ohio State’s 2023 class. However, the idea of potentially having LeBron sitting courtside of a game inside the Schottenstein Center every so often would certainly drastically raise the program’s profile, even if only for a season.Bronny James’ Ohio connections make this an interesting topic and why it’s not all that shоcking that the Buckeyes still have a hat on the table. But he’s also got connections to the Ducks thanks to his father’s lifetime deal with Oregon alumn Phil Knight, which is an important detail in the world of NIL. Meanwhile, the Trojans are in his backyard as a resident of Los Angeles.

Regardless of what’s going on with the competition, right now, Ohio State doesn’t have a scholarship to hand out to another 2023 recruit for next season because it expects its roster to be full. Even if that changes between now and when the late signing period opens up for basketball recruits on April 12, there’s no reason to think the Buckeyes will add another player to their sixth-ranked recruiting class.