Bryce James, the 15-year-old son of LeBron James, may have a hilarious impression of his father. But he is now starting to make his own name in the basketball world.
To this point, fans have likely heard more about Bronny James, a rising senior at Sierra Canyon in California who could potentially play alongside LeBron in the NBA. Bronny, who is expected to go the collegiate route after high school, recently picked up an offer from Memphis.
Bryce, however, also plays at Sierra Canyon. He recently joined Bronny on the California Basketball Club for a European tour.
Bryce posted on Instagram late Sunday night about his first collegiate offer to a D-I basketball program. The offer letter was from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Bryce James got his first D-I offer 🙌
(via _justbryce/Instagram) pic.twitter.com/RviVn8MWlr
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) August 22, 2022
Duquesne is a mid-major program in the A10 conference — which is the same conference that has recently produced NBA players including Stephen Curry (Davidson), Obi Toppin (Dayton), and Bones Hyland (VCU). Last season, Duquesne finished with a 6-24 record.
But the reason why this offer is particularly significant is because of the staff at Duquesne.
Their head coach, Keith Dambrot, actually served as the head coach at St. Vincent-St. Mary in Ohio for two of the years LeBron attended. Dru Joyce III, who played alongside LeBron at STVM, is the associate head coach at Duquesne.
Dru’s father, Dru Joyce II, became LeBron’s coach and mentor when the future NBA champion was just ten years old in 1994.
Dru Joyce II was an assistant at STVM before taking over for Dambrot as STVM head coach in 2001. The team won a national title in 2003 before LeBron was drafted by the hometown Cleveland Cavaliers. Joyce is still the head coach at STVM and has won seven state championships.
Last month, LeBron attended a ceremony to name the STVM court the Dru Joyce Court at the LeBron James Arena, per the Akron Beacon Journal. So with the shared family history, it only makes sense that Bryce would get the offer to play for Dambrot and Joyce at Duquense.
Bryce James gonna be a serious problem 🤫 (via @CourtsideFilms)pic.twitter.com/GN8iQNzlFo
— Overtime (@overtime) July 29, 2022
At fifteen years old, Bryce is already listed at 6-foot-6 — which makes him several inches taller than his older brother, Bronny. LeBron has called Bryce his twin.
Bryce doesn’t yet have a high school ranking in his class, but according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, some NBA evaluators believe he has a brighter future in basketball than Bronny.
While it’s way too early to say what the professional trajectory may look like for Bryce or Bronny, the offer from Duquesne still holds significant weight.
