Most people in the industry expect that if Bronny does choose a college over a developmental option like the NBA G League or Overtime Elite, he will and up at a Nike-sponsored school. After all, the family’s connection to Nike runs deep. LeBron has been sponsored by Nike since he entered the NBA in 2003 and inked a lifetime deal with the company in 2015. The list of schools reaching out is mostly filled with Nike-sponsored programs. And they have other connections, too. Ohio State is where LeBron likely would have gone had he attended college. instead of becoming the No. 1 overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft. Head coach Chris Holtmann and assistant Jake Diebler attended several of Bronny’s games at Peach Jam. Michigan is coached by Juwan Howard, LeBron’s former teammate with the Miami Heat. Memphis is coached by Penny Hardaway, a former NBA standout. Oregon is a flagship Nike program coached by one of the top coaches in the game in Dana Altman. USC is based in Los Angeles, near where the James family lives. Rutgers? Well, Rutgers is an Adidas-sponsored program that is a bit outside the box in this recruitment. “I mean, the list is pretty long of college coaches that’s calling,” Estevan said.Some of the top talent evaluators taking in the action tonight at Peach Jam pic.twitter.com/SNqx2T5Oe5
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) July 20, 2022
Most of these coaches watched Strive for Greatness last month at Peach Jam, where James, a 4-star guard rated the No. 8 shooting guard in his class by 247Sports.com, averaged 15.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 1.3 steals per game. Several blue blood schools like Kentucky, Duke and UCLA are not recruiting Bronny (at least so far) either because they already have strong lead guards committed for 2023 or are simply not involved in his recruitment. As we wrote in the Times piece,The line 40 minutes before Bronny James plays at Peach Jam pic.twitter.com/JGPwSt1NGp
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) July 21, 2022
For now, Bronny and his teammates with the California Basketball Club — a name that Sierra Canyon sometimes plays under — is touring Europe. They lost their first game in London last Thursday and will play Monday against the U18 French Select Team in a game slated to air on ESPN2 at 2 p.m. ET. On Thursday, James and his teammates will face Stella Azzurra in Rome in a game set to air at noon ET on ESPNU. “It’s not about winning out here,” Estevan said by text from Europe. “We are playing our whole roster. We want the kids to have a great experience out here.” Once they return from Europe, the schedule will get busy quickly, meaning Bronny would have to schedule any fall college visits around his team schedule. “Our preseason in the fall will start at the end of September and will go all the way into October, and then we’ll take a couple weeks off and just practice and then our regular season starts in November,” Estevan said. One thing’s for sure: Bronny’s recruitment figures to be one of the most fascinating story lines of the next year. Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter Follow ZAGSBLOGHoops on Instagram And Like ZAGS on Facebook25-10-5 for Bronny James yesterday at Peach Jam. 😤🍑 @NikeEYB #TheBallEndsHere pic.twitter.com/pEcekFPcCc
— SLAM (@SLAMonline) July 22, 2022