Has Bryce James Played This Season? Latest on LeBron's Son's Freshman Season at Arizona

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No. 1 Arizona men's basketball continued its undefeated season on Saturday by beating host TCU 86-73 to move to 16-0 on the year. Koa Peat scored a team-high 20 points, and Jaden Bradley and Anthony Dell'Orso added 17 points apiece.

The Wildcats are a legitimate national championship contender and could very well win their first title since 1997.

Arizona's roster is loaded and includes freshman guard Bryce James, a 3-star prospect who played high school ball at Sierra Canyon in Chatsworth, California. James is the younger son of Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James.

Bryce James has not seen any court time this year, a trend that continued against TCU. At this juncture, all signs appear to be pointing toward James sitting the year.

There is a legitimate reason for that, and head coach Tommy Lloyd explained why after his team defeated Northern Arizona 84-49 on Nov. 11. Obviously, a blowout of that magnitude could call for end-of-the-bench players to get a few minutes at the end of the game.

That didn't happen for James (or teammate Mabil Mawut). However, as Lloyd noted, if James plays even one second out there, he burns a season of eligibility.

"No final decisions have been made," Lloyd said, per Cameron Salerno of CBS Sports. "It's tough. It puts you in a tough situation. You play Bryce in a game like this [against Northern Arizona] for three minutes, it burns a year of eligibility. I wish it was easier.

"I wish there was a set number of games you could play a guy like they have in football. I think that would make sense for some of these kids, but we don't. I want Bryce to have the best college basketball career and the most options in his college basketball career long-term, whatever that looks like. Throwing a kid with a lot of potential that's developing, he or Mabil, a few garbage minutes -- it might feel good now, but potentially down the line it could be something you regret."

The 6'5", 195-pound James' time doesn't appear as if it'll arrive this season. Frankly, playing James at all wouldn't make much sense at this point. He's a talented prospect with a bright future, but it appears that will start on the collegiate level in 2026-27.

In the meantime, Arizona looks to continue a fantastic year on Wednesday when it hosts arch-rival Arizona State.