LeBron James’s son, LeBron James Jr. (aka Bronny) is becoming a hot topic on the recruiting trail these days. Not just because of how good he is (or who his dad is), but mainly because of his age relative to his skill.
He turned 10 on October 6 and, according to reports, he’s already garnering scholarship offers.
It’s one thing to offer kids scholarships before they reach high school. It’s another to offer them before they reach junior high. Apparently it happens though.
His dad isn’t too crazy about it either.
“Yeah, he’s already got some offers from colleges,” James told the media Tuesday, according to a report on FOX Sports Ohio. “It’s pretty crazy. It should be a violation. You shouldn’t be recruiting 10-year-old kids.”
How Good is Bronny?
Bronny is no ordinary 10-year-old though.
A look at his numerous clips on youtube reveals that he’s more than a kid with good pedigree. The fourth-grader already possesses great court vision and is known to pass as much as shoot—much like his dad, who just passed Scottie Pippen for the most assists by a forward in NBA history with 6,142. Pippen had 6,135.
“He plays just like I did,” James said. “He has great awareness, and he'd rather pass first and set guys up. Most kids nowadays just want to score.”
Bronny has been on the radar before. Last October he was filmed at Cleveland’s practice hitting a half-court shot that was picked up by local station 19 Action News Cleveland.
Recruiting Battle Could Be Heating Up Soon
So, who’s recruiting him?
Well, Bronny led his fourth-grade AAU team to the national championships this past summer, played in Kentucky. Mr. recruiter himself, John Calipari, was on hand (of course) and though there’s no confirmation that he offered Bronny a scholarship, there was a photo of Bronny on twitter, taken by Kentucky Sports Connect’s Dan Bodner, in Calipari’s office wearing his title rings:
LeBron James Jr. is in Lexington and hanging out in John Calipari’s office. pic.twitter.com/ekPEqM3fyL
— Dan Bodner (@DanBodnerKSC) July 18, 2014
Though the Wildcats are in on every top high school player, they would have tough competition with Ohio State. The Buckeyes are not only in the James’s home state, LeBron Sr. publicly stated he would have gone there had he not gone directly to the NBA—an option Bronny won’t have because of the NBA rule change.
The Buckeyes also have given the elder LeBron sideline passes for their home football games and coach Urban Meyer has told him he wants him at every game. Whether that gives the Buckeyes an edge or not we don’t know and probably won’t for a while—Bronny’s age has him headed for college in the year 2023.
