It has been a disastrous season so far for USC men’s basketball. It was a season that was supposed to be one for the ages, but instead could very well end up as their worst season in about a decade. 

One of the reasons there was so much hope at the beginning of the year was because of freshman guard Bronny James, son of NBA superstar LeBron James, committing to play for the Trojans. James, the 28th-ranked recruit in the class of 2023, was not the highest of USC’s recruits, but he brought a star power that the men’s basketball team has not had.

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And much like USC’s season, it hasn’t worked out for James so far — so much so that recently, James made the news as ESPN removed the freshman from its 2024 mock draft, projecting James to be taken in 2025 instead.

James is not perceived as an NBA-level player just yet. It’s customary for any top-level prospect to be a one-and-done: spend one year in college and then transition immediately to the pros. But James is clearly not that. 

James has arguably the biggest shoes to fill of any professional athlete ever. It’s nearly impossible for him to surpass his father’s legacy as a basketball player, and not being “good enough” to leave college after one year is already a blemish on that.

But James has to see he isn’t ready to forgo the rest of his college career. Too often, players who were high-touted recruits out of high school have a poor freshman campaign and still enter the draft. Players like Nassir Little, TyTy Washington, Brandon Boston Jr. and Hamidou Diallo all fell into the same trap and ended up barely cracking the first round in the draft, if that, and can now hardly make it onto the court.

James’ freshman stats aren’t even close to some of those names I just listed. He’s a 3-and-D player, so he doesn’t command an offense, but his splits are not even close to passable. In 20 minutes a game, he puts up an average of 5.5 points on 37.1% from the field and 27.5% from long distance. It may not be his play style, but he needs to find a way to gain more confidence and shoot the ball a few more times. 

But at the end of the day, these past few months have been as hard on James as possible. To be playing as hard as he does, just a few months after suffering cardiac arrest, is incredible. This season has been everything but ordinary for him, and you can pile starting college on top of all of that.

Another year would work wonders for him. Look at USC junior guard Kobe Johnson. It’s a little bit different, as he played even less his freshman year and wasn’t as high of a recruit, but they’re similar types of players. Instead of going to the NBA or transferring out after averaging 7.5 minutes, Johnson stayed and improved his game. He upped his average by nine points per game and shot nearly 47% from the field. To top it off, he racked up 2.2 steals per game and took home Pac-12 All-Defensive team honors.

Johnson has had a bit of a down year this season, along with injuries, but his game is continuing to develop. That’s exactly what James needs. There’s this negative connotation about players not leaving for the NBA right as they’re eligible, but everyone is ready at their own time.

Look at star New York Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson (you knew I had to sneak in a Brunson reference somehow). He was a top- 35 recruit in his class and helped lead his team to a national championship his freshman year, albeit averaging just over nine points per game. Brunson stayed in college for two more years and finished by winning National Player of the Year.

He started as a bench player for the Mavericks but has now blossomed into one of the best scorers in the entire league. He’s averaging the sixth-most points in the NBA (27.7) and has the Knicks poised for a deep playoff run. Even in the NBA, Brunson waited for his time to come, and now he’s making the most of it.

James has the talent and the athleticism to be a great player in the NBA; all he needs to do is keep working and not rush into it. The last thing he should do is switch to the pros right as normalcy is starting to settle in. Even just one more year would do wonders for his development and the lengths he can reach as a pro. 

Stefano Fendrich is a junior writing about his opinions on some of sports’ biggest debates in his column, “The Great Debate,” which runs every other Wednesday.