USC Basketball: Ryen Russillo Unpacks Media's Approach To Covering Bronny James
USC Trojans freshman reserve combo guard Bronny James has yet to really pop for his new team, during his first collegiate season. The college basketball pundit world has taken notice, recently dropping Bronny from its 2024 mock draft entirely.
Ryen Russillo of The Ringer recently unpacked the media's role in covering the 6'4" guard, a four-star prospect coming out of Sierra Canyon School in Chatsworth.
"Let's talk about the mock draft," Russillo said. "So he's been dropped to the '25 class... But I ask this: have you watched him at 'SC this year? I've watched a few [USC] games [this season], and unless you're looking for him, you don't really notice him. He's sixth in minutes on the second-worst team in probably the worst power conference in college basketball... I don't see a crazy level of athleticism. Maybe he's a late bloomer. He's a freshman, but he's a role player who for a few years now we've been talking about what he projects at as an NBA player and he doesn't stand out on this 'SC team again, that's not very good."
"ESPN.com, one year ago, February 22nd, 2023, you can look it up, had him as the tenth pick in the first mock draft for their '24 class. The tenth pick. Lottery. You want to do real talk here?" Russillo sasked. "When that came out... people were laughing in the NBA. They're like, 'Are you f***ing kidding me? They put him tenth?' Why did [ESPN.com] do it? I don't know, but I've got a pretty good guess! That they probably just said, 'F it, put him tenth. That draft's in a year and a half, who cares? Just do it, we'll get a little buzz, we'll get some clicks.' So that's the media's fault, too. This is also the media's fault: the game graphic, where there was an 'SC game on, and it shows Collier's stats, Ellis' stats, and then there's a graphic of Bronny James, and there's two parts with no stats, one says 'winner,' one says 'team player.' I know exactly what that is because I've worked in television a long time."
