Why Bryce James isn't playing tonight for Arizona vs. Kansas with official redshirt decision

Bryce James is always going to be a topic of conversation because he's LeBron James' son.

But for these undefeated and No. 1 ranked Arizona Wildcats, Bryce is actually just an afterthought as a true freshman.

This season, Bryce hasn't played in a single game for Arizona during a 22-0 start that comes to its next challenge on Monday night at Kansas.

That isn't likely to change, either.

Why isn't Bryce James playing tonight?

Bryce James remains on the sideline because he is redshirting his freshman season.

That means he won't play a single second this season, and it will preserve this season of eligibility to be used down the road.

This had been suspected as a plan for most of the season, and it finally became publicly acknowledged earlier in February.

Bryce likely wasn't ready to contribute to a team this good right now, so it's a chance for him to watch, learn and develop in the hopes of moving up the pecking order in the years ahead.

"The redshirting decision was just a long play, to give Bryce the most options in his career as his career unfolds," Tommy Lloyd told the Big 12 Network on Feb. 3. "I have real strong belief that Bryce will be a contributor at Arizona in the near future. He's really shown a lot of progress, not only learning our system but just physically maturing."

Those are positive words that suggest Bryce will have the chance to stick around at Arizona and not be forced to transfer after a year of not playing. That continuity could be a big help for Bryce going forward.

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