LEBRON JAMES’S son Bryce could miss the entire season with the Arizona Wildcat with his coach considering a move to redshirt him.

The 18-year-old joined the Wildcats at the start of this year as a three-star prospect from Sierra Canyon.
Bryce James is in danger of being redshirted by the Arizona Wildcats after failing to play this seasonCredit: Getty
 
Bryce will be hoping to emulate brother Bronny (far left) who joined dad LeBron at the LakersCredit: Getty
LeBron‘s prodigy turned down offers from Ohio State and Duquesne to play for Arizona as he said he was “100 per cent committed” when announcing the switch.

But this season he is yet to play for the Wildcats and hasn’t featured in any of their first three games against Florida, Utah Tech or Northern Arizona.

In college football, the redshirt rule permits players to play up to four games while still keeping their year of eligibility.

But in basketball, players aren’t able to play a single minute without losing their red shirt status.

In a redshirt year, student athletes preserve four years of eligibility by sitting out a year of action.

They are able to practice with the team and receive financial aid, but cannot play competitively.

His coach Tommy Lloyd said the situation was a complicated one and added that he hadn’t made a final decision about redshirting the son of the NBA legend.

He said: “No final decisions have been made. It’s tough. It puts you in a tough situation.

“You play Bryce in a game like this [versus Northern Arizona] for three minutes, it burns a year of eligibility.

“I wish it was easier. I wish there was a set number of games you could play a guy like they have in football.

“I think that would make sense for some of these kids, but we don’t.”

Bryce’s fellow freshman Mabil Mawut also falls under the same bracket after failing to play so far.

And Lloyd said it could be damaging to Bryce’s long-term career if he threw him into the deep end too quickly.

He added: “I want Bryce to have the best college basketball career and the most options in his college basketball career long-term, whatever that looks like.

“Throwing a kid with a lot of potential that’s developing, he or Mabil, a few garbage minutes – it might feel good now, but potentially down the line it could be something you regret.”

Bryce came from the Strive For Greatness grassroots programme on the Nike EYBL circuit, where he averaged 6.9 points and 2.2 rebounds.

He will be desperate to emulate his older brother Bronny, who got his big move to the NBA with the Los Angeles Lakers last year.

The switch made him team-mates with his legendary father LeBron as they became the first ever father-son duo in NBA history.