Why Bryce James isn't playing more for Arizona as freshman college basketball son of LeBron James

As the college basketball season gets underway this week, it means the start of a Division I hoops journey for Bryce James, the younger son of NBA legend LeBron James and the younger brother of the Lakers' Bronny James.

Bryce and his Arizona Wildcats teammates take the floor on Monday night to open the campaign in a marquee clash with defending national champion Florida.

The freshman Bryce may not see the floor much in the early going. If the Wildcats' lone exhibition against a D-I opponent (Saint Mary's) is any indication, Bryce might be out of the rotation. He only got a late cameo in that one.

It'll be a narrative everyone is watching throughout the season, but more often than not early on, it seems Bryce may have to watch and learn.

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Why isn't Bryce James playing more for Arizona?

Bryce James isn't playing more for Arizona for a couple of reasons: his own readiness and the depth of the Wildcats.

The last name brings heightened expectations, but the 6-foot-5 Bryce's skill level isn't immense at this point.

A season ago, he averaged eight points and four rebounds per game at Sierra Canyon School. The summer prior on the Nike EYBL circuit, he did even less.

Bryce isn't even the best player from his AAU team in the freshman class at Arizona. Guard Brayden Burries is expected to start in the backcourt right away after being a top-10 recruit.

The Wildcats are a perennial top-25 team, and they've got loads of former high-ranking recruits on their roster. It's a tough spot to break through for Bryce.

Is Bryce James redshirting?

The idea of Bryce James redshirting was raised before the season, but Arizona doesn't have to decide that now.

If by the end of the year, Bryce has sat so much that he's eligible to redshirt and maintain this year of eligibility, the Wildcats could go for that. But if they need him during the year, then that could change the plans.

At Big 12 Media Days, head coach Tommy Lloyd called redshirting a "possibility."

He added this: “The reason I say that (redshirting is a possibility) is because I believe in Bryce. If you didn’t believe in somebody, why would you spend extra resources on them or extra time?”

Lloyd went on to share a few more thoughts about Bryce at Big 12 Media Days:

“My job is to respect him as a person and help him with his own journey. And that’s our plan at Arizona. We got no extras. Let’s just help this kid develop into a great young man, and I think that’s what his family wants, and what he wants, and we’re gonna help him with that.”

That journey reaches official game one on Nov. 3, with much more basketball to go.

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