There are two high school players whose names hold incredible weight in Oregon Ducks basketball circles at the moment. One of them is a signee of the Ducks’ 2023 class; the other is a prospective signee who seemingly has the entire college basketball news cycle in the palm of his hand.
Jackson Shelstad and Bronny James are hot topics of conversation this week at the Nike Hoops Summit in Portland, Oregon. While Shelstad, the 4-star Oregon signee is making waves with his play on the court, it is James who stole the show off of it, giving his first media availability in seemingly forever.
A lot of ground was covered in that interview, but one thing of note came about for Oregon fans who are interested. James, the son of NBA legend LeBron James, was asked about his relationship with Shelstad, and what it would be like playing together in the future.
[lawrence-related id=40950]
James’ answer was positive in regards to Shelstad, and there were some other notes in there about the Oregon climate that might get Duck fans excited.
“It’s always nice to be here (in Portland). Nice city. I like the weather out here, gloomy rain-type weather,” James said, via 247Sports. “It’s nice being here with all these guys, being with (Team) USA. Me and Jackson are still trying to meet each other, but he’s a cool dude. I like talking to him and stuff. We talk about Oregon and stuff. I like his game a lot. He shoots the ball well and he’s a fast point guard. He makes smart decisions. Everyone likes to play with a good point guard who can make good decisions.”
Shelstad is not the first Oregon player to openly try and recruit James to Eugene. 5-star Mookie Cook pitched him hard last month at the McDonald’s All-American Game, and 5-star Kwame Evans did the same last year, encouraging LeBron’s eldest to set up camp at Nike University.
“You know, it’s fun times. Good to joke with them,” James said. “Talking to them, talking to the coaches. It’s good to know they want me there with them. But at the end of the day, it’s my decision and I need to make the right one for me.”
[lawrence-related id=40896]
James has reportedly narrowed down his recruitment to three schools — Oregon, Ohio State, and USC — but there is no decision date on the horizon, and the 4-star recruit has only taken one public visit so far, going to Columbus for the Ohio State vs. Notre Dame football game a year ago.
Whether or not James will end up in Eugene is a crapshoot, at this point. Maybe he commits to play for Dana Altman and the Ducks, maybe he stays close to home and plays for the Trojans, or maybe he goes to Ohio State where his dad grew up.
It’s impossible to say at this point, but we can at least know that the relationship between Bronny and the three members of Oregon’s 2023 class is reportedly strong. That’s got to be worth something, right?
[mm-video type=video id=01gxccr87eqyma2t1pn9 playlist_id=01f27mq9z7hjgk6vc6 player_id=01f5k5y2jb3twsvdg4 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01gxccr87eqyma2t1pn9/01gxccr87eqyma2t1pn9-674c0a4d3575c253f7d5226ef7bf67db.jpg]
[lawrence-auto-related count=3]