Bronny James to make USC debut on Sunday vs. Long Beach State

Bronny James is set to make his college basketball debut on Sunday against Long Beach State, his head coach Andy Enfield told reporters on Thursday night. He’s expected to come off the bench in that game with a minutes restriction, per his head coach.

James is of course, the son of future NBA Hall of Famer, LeBron James. In the 2023 cycle, James was rated as the No. 25 overall player in the country and a four-star prospect, according to the On3 Industry Rankings.

As we all await his first collegiate appearance, no one is more excited for that moment than LeBron James himself.

Following the Lakers’ 133-110 loss in OKC last Thursday, LeBron answered several questions regarding the positive news on his son. After the last few weeks, he is just glad to see that his son is nearly at the end of this unexpected journey and will soon be back to working on his passion.

“I mean, obviously, you’ve seen the press release. But just a proud moment, big-time excitement for our family, for Bronny, and for USC as well,” said LeBron. “It’s something that he has been working toward for the last 12 weeks. For him to get the clearance to do what he loves to do? Going back to being with his teammates, putting on a uniform, things of that nature? It’s very gratifying, for sure.”

This was a long process, though, with no guarantees at the end of it. Bronny’s incident of cardiac arrest back at the end of July, which occurred due to a congenital heart defect, put a significant pause on what appears to be his very bright future in basketball.

Still, after much prayer, a lot of research, and hard work from everyone involved, James is ecstactic that this matter worked out how it did for Bronny.

“We just put it in God’s hands, man. Just trusted. That’s it. We prayed as a family. We had great doctors along the way the whole time telling us that they believed things would work out for us and in our favor,” LeBron said. “Bronny took care of his business and he did everything. Didn’t have any setbacks, didn’t try to rush the process of his rehab. He took every step accordingly to plan.”

“For him to get that clearance over the last 48 hours was big time for him,” said James.

Now, with this update, the question that’s left is when James’ return will be. The Trojans currently sit at 5-2 on the season behind the play of Boogie Ellis and Isaiah Collier in the backcourt. They will play four more non-conference games, including on Saturday against No. 11 Gonzaga, in December before closing the month with the start of conference play in the Pac-12.

James let the Lakers know that, if they have a game on that day, he won’t be present in their lineup for his own game. Luckily for the Lakers, the USC and Long Beach State game is slated for Sunday, December 10th. The Lakers’ will be off for a few days until they play on Tuesday, December 12th, at the Dallas Mavericks.

“It’ll be exciting. Looking forward to his first game, whenever he’s cleared,” said James. “Whenever he’s ready to have his first game? I already told my teammates that if they play on the same day we’re playing? I’m going to have to catch them next game.”

“Family over everything, champs. I love y’all. But I’ve definitely got to see Bronny’s fist college game whenever he’s cleared and ready to go,” James said.

On3’s Sam Gillenwater also contributed to this article.