LeBron James' son, Bronny, has 3 leading college choices, and — no surprise — all of them are Nike schools

• Bronny James is a senior in high school and appears to be closing in on his college decision.
• USC, Ohio State, and Oregon are the leaders but are not considered his "finalists."
• Each of the three schools offers Bronny something the others cannot, and all three are sponsored by Nike.

Bronny James is one of the last top high school seniors to pick a college, but that could change soon.

While James, the oldest son of NBA player LeBron James, has not declared any finalists for his decision, he does have three top contenders, according to Luca Evans of the LA Times.

"According to a person with knowledge of the situation not authorized to speak publicly, James will make a decision on his college commitment after the season," Evans wrote. "His top three schools are Ohio State — his father's favorite — USC and Oregon."

Evans later clarified on Twitter that another school could still emerge. 

"Official finalists have not been named," Evans wrote on Twitter. "A dark horse is still possible."

Bronny, who is ranked No. 28 in ESPN's Class of 2023, is one of only two players in the top 60 who has not committed to a school yet. 

—Luca Evans (@bylucaevans) January 7, 2023

 

The three schools in the lead have one big factor in common: They're Nike schools, a company with LeBron as a major partner. However, all three have something unique they can offer that the others cannot.

For USC, it would mean staying close to his LA home, friends, and family, while Ohio State is Akron-native LeBron's favorite school. Meanwhile, Oregon brings the strongest ties to Nike, whose Beaverton headquarters are just 100 miles from the Eugene campus. Bronny, of course, recently signed an NIL deal with Nike. 

One school that is notably absent from the list, however, is Duke. 

Duke had long been considered a favorite to land Bronny James due to LeBron James' admiration of famed coach Mike Krzyzewski. In 2018, LeBron defended Coach K from criticism with a social media comment that read, "Love Coach K! The absolute BEST! Hope he's still at the helm when my boy comes up."

Unfortunately for Duke, though, Krzyzewski retired after the 2021-22 season, and the currently unranked Blue Devils now no longer appear to be candidates.

Wherever Bronny ends up for college, the stay might be short. LeBron recently reiterated his hopes of playing in the NBA at the same time as his son, something that could happen as soon as the 2024-25 season.  

"I need to be on the floor with my boy, I got to be on the floor with Bronny," James told ESPN. "Either in the same uniform or a matchup against him. I don't mean like [guarding one another all game] — because he's a point guard and I'm a, at this point now I'm playing center or whatever the team needs from me. But I would love to do the whole Ken Griffey Sr. and Jr. thing. That would be ideal for sure."