What if Bronny James Brought His Talents to Bloomington?
While there are no clear signs of where the USC transfer will call his next home, Ohio State would seem to be a front-runner given the James family's close ties in Ohio. Duke should also be considered in the mix, given LeBron's past remarks regarding his adoration towards the idea of Bronny playing under the tutelage of Coach K.
For now, there is nothing but (more) speculation surrounding where Bronny James will play basketball next season. For fun, we imagined how his arrival could impact the rotation and what his theoretical role would be for the 2024-2025 Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball squad.
Here is a realistic outline of how the depth chart would shift were Bronny to announce IU as his next stomping grounds:
PG | Bronny James (6'4", 210 lbs | Sophomore), Gabe Cupps (6'2", 175 lbs | Sophomore)
SG | Trey Galloway (6'5", 205 lbs | Senior), Jakai Newton (6'3", 205 lbs | Sophomore)
SF | Bryson Tucker (6'7", 185 lbs | Freshman), Anthony Leal (6'5", 200 lbs | Senior)
PF | Mackenzie Mgbako (6'8", 220 lbs | Sophomore)
C | Malik Reneau (6'9", 235 lbs | Junior)
In this scenario, Bronny would supplant his former AAU teammate Gabe Cupps as the team's starting PG. Trey Galloway's ascension as the team's primary table setter was a silver lining this season, but he had never filled that role before and at times was the only *consistently* reliable perimeter playmaking threat on the roster. In other words, Galloway was forced to fill that role out of sheer necessity. His growth was beautiful to watch, but he would surely be relieved to have Bronny's creative skills for support.
With James and Galloway manning the starting spots in the backcourt and Bryson Tucker plus Malik Reneau filling 2/3 starting frontcourt spots, it would be crucial for Mike Woodson to focus his attentions of filling the remaining roster spots with SHOOTERS and REBOUNDERS. Those were two of the most glaring weaknesses for the 2024-2025 IU men's basketball team, and while Bronny James's unforeseen arrival would help it would not immediately rectify those holes.
Is Bronny James going to end up choosing Indiana University as his next home? The odds of that are slim, but the idea of it coming to fruition is irresistible.