Ex-NBA player Kendrick Perkins make his recruiting pitch to Bronny James

No other prospect in high school basketball draws attention quite like Bronny James.

As the younger son of NBA legend LeBron James and a social media star himself, Bronny draws attention in almost everything he does — both on an off the court. The news recently has been that the first of LeBron’s sons is starting to see his recruitment heat up as he heads into his senior season. Bronny checks in as the No. 44 overall player in the On3 Consensus, and national recruiting analyst Jamie Shaw follow up a recent ESPN report about the programs recruiting Bronny with intel of his own.

Three programs are currently in the mix with James, according to Shaw’s reporting: Oregon, USC and Ohio State.

Per the ESPN report, Michigan, UCLA and others have also shown interest, which led to a segment on NBA Today, with multiple members of the show making pitches for him to attend their alma maters.

Kendrick Perkins makes his pitch

One member who didn’t attend college and instead went straight to the NBA is Kendrick Perkins, who LeBron played with in Cleveland. As such, Perkins made his case for the local school, Ohio State.

“I didn’t go to college, but I did go to the university of cash. So I’m going to pitch a school where Bronny is going to get paid the most,” Perkins said. “And that’s going to Ohio State. Yes, you’re adopted in L.A., but you was born and raised in the state of Ohio. You’re an Akron kid. You go back to Ohio, can you imagine the traction; can you imagine the NIL deals? 

… Can you imagine being featured around the state? Not just in an arena [football stadium] with 120,000-plus chanting your name. But what about a state with millions chanting your name? With billboards all over the place. You would be the attraction. You’d make top dollar there in Ohio and at Ohio State. Go back home, and you can still live in that crib because it won’t be too far away.”

Bronny James receives Oregon prediction

The Buckeyes might be on the outside looking in though, as Shaw put in a prediction on Tuesday afternoon for James to ultimately choose Oregon. The Ducks are Nike’s flagship school and have deep connections to the James family, as the company has sold LeBron’s signature shoe and apparel line since he came into the league in 2003.

The On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine (RPM) currently gives Oregon a 99.5 percent chance of landing James’ commitment.