Bronny James commits to USC men's basketball, chooses Trojans over Ohio State, UCLA
Bronny James will not be joining Ohio State's 2023 class.
James, the son of NBA superstar LeBron James, announced Saturday that he has committed to Southern California, choosing the Trojans over the Buckeyes and UCLA.
James took a visit to Ohio State for the football team's 2022 season opener against Notre Dame, watching a basketball practice and participating in a photo shoot before watching the game from a luxury box with his family.
Ohio State men's basketball secured its 13th roster spot when the program signed Penn State transfer Evan Mahaffey Friday, finalizing its roster for the 2023-24 season.
Ohio State has already landed four-star guard John Mobley Jr. in the 2024 class after signing four players in 2023: Taison Chatman, Scotty Middleton, Devin Royal and Austin Parks.
Before playing his first collegiate season, James was listed by ESPN as the No. 10 overall pick in a 2024 NBA mock draft.
According to 247Sports' composite rankings, James is the No. 21 player, the No. 5 combo guard and the No. 4 prospect out of California in the 2023 class.
After the Lakers defeated Golden State on Saturday, LeBron James said it was one of the best days of his life.
“First of all congratulations to my son on his next journey and picking a great university,” James said. “I’m proud of him. This is an incredible thing. Unless it was one of my great-grandmothers or great-grandfathers or someone way before my time, to my knowledge this is the first one out of the James Gang to go to college.
Basketball is family ❤️
LeBron speaks on Bronny's college commitment. pic.twitter.com/VgELV0vTWv— NBA (@NBA) May 7, 2023
“Obviously, his dad didn’t go to school. His mom (Savannah) didn’t go to college. My mom (Gloria) maybe stepped on campus for a little bit, maybe a community college or something, but she had (me) running around so she couldn’t spend much time in the classroom. It’s very, very, very, very exciting, very humbling and a great moment for our family.
"... USC is getting a great kid. He's there to play basketball, [but] they're going to be super surprised at how great a kid he is, even though they've been recruiting him for a while.”
James reiterated he still wants to play alongside his son but acknowledged his body and his mind need to be right, and he wanted to account for Bronny’s wishes.
"I was serious," James said. "And I'm still serious about it. Obviously, I've got to continue to keep my body and my mind fresh, I think my mind most importantly. ... But at the end of the day, I've done what I had to do in this league, and my son is going to take his journey.
"Just because it's my aspiration [to play together] doesn't mean it's his, and I'm absolutely OK with that. My job is just to support my son in whatever he wants to do. ... One thing about being a parent is it's not always about what you want. It's about listening to your kids and what they want, and that's when you get a real relationship."
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Bronny James commits to USC men's basketball over Ohio State
