Did Bronny James play his final college basketball game at USC? The Trojans’ disappointing season came to an end with a 70-49 blowout loss against Arizona in the Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinals Thursday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Now the former four-star recruit and son of NBA superstar LeBron James faces a significant decision on whether to enter the 2024 NBA Draft or return to college. USC head coach Andy Enfield told Lucas Evans of the Orange County Register postgame that he has not discussed future plans with any of the players, which includes James and five-star freshman Isaiah Collier. Enfield did expand on the growth James showed throughout the 2023-24 season.
“Well, Bronny’s a typical freshman,” Enfield said, via InsideTroy. “He went through a lot this year physically and mentally. He’s never wavered from being a great teammate and working extremely hard in practice, and you can count on him as an individual. He’s on time. You need him to be somewhere, he’s there, and you need to count on him as a teammate or as a coach he’s there for you. A lot of positive things to say about who he is as a person, his character, how he buys into the team concept. We love coaching him. He’s a typical freshman and has learned and grown a lot this year. We’ll keep improving.”
James recorded just three points, one rebound and a steal in 22 minutes of action off the bench for USC in the loss to top-seed Arizona. The Trojans end the season with a 15-18 (.454) overall record — their worst win percentage in nine years.
James played in 24 games for USC, averaging 4.9 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 19.3 minutes per contest. He shot just 37.4% from the floor and 27.3% from 3-point range. Despite the low numbers, James is likely still an NBA Draft-worthy prospect.
Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul, the agent for LeBron James, recently said team selection rather than draft placement will play a role in that eventual decision.
“I don’t value a young player getting into the lottery as much as I do getting him on the right team in the right developmental situation,” Paul told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski over the weekend.
James rated as a four-star prospect coming out of Los Angeles (Calif.) Sierra Canyon in the 2023 recruiting class. He ranked as the No. 6 combo guard and No. 28 overall prospect regardless of position nationally. While his recruitment process was kept quiet, James did hold known offers from Memphis and Ohio State in addition to USC.
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The deadline for early entry into the 2024 NBA Draft is set for April 27.
Brad Crawford and Grant Hughes contributed to this report.
