SHERMAN OAKS, Calif. — In May, Bryce James left Sierra Canyon to enroll at Campbell Hall in Studio City and play for newly hired head coach David Grace. Just three months later, the James family has changed course, as Bryce has unenrolled at Campbell Hall, heading a few minutes down Riverside Drive to Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, per Bryce’s social media.
As a Notre Dame graduate, this is pretty neat. It’s not every day that your alma mater is talked about in the national sports conversation. That being said, Notre Dame is no slouch when it comes to notable alumni, including Giancarlo Stanton, Hunter Greene, Academy Award winner Rami Malek, Kirsten Dunst, Terry Donahue, and The Sporting Tribune’s fearless leader Arash Markazi.
There aren’t any basketball players on that list, which is part of what makes this move so interesting. Notre Dame’s most notable basketball alumni is current TCU head coach Jamie Dixon. ND’s basketball program has been completely revamped from a talent perspective over the last couple of years.
Notre Dame’s first high-profile recruit in recent memory was 2023 graduate Dusty Stromer, who played all four years of his high school career in Sherman Oaks. Stromer, a four-star wing and Notre Dame’s all-time wins leader, signed his Letter of Intent to play for Gonzaga over UCLA, Arizona and Houston.
Prior to the 2023 season, four-star guard Caleb Foster transferred to Notre Dame to team up with Stromer for their senior seasons. Mercy Miller, son of Master P, followed Foster to Sherman Oaks to form a three-headed monster that carried the Knights to their first Division I CIF State title in school history. Foster is headed to Duke. Miller, part of the 2024 graduating class, will play one more year alongside James at ND before heading to Houston.
There is no doubt that the recent shift in ND’s basketball program is what helped reel in James, but this is not the James family’s first exposure to Notre Dame’s campus. During the 2017 offseason, as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers, LeBron James stumbled onto campus unannounced to use the school’s gym after a long day of shooting commercials. He took to social media to thank the school for their generosity.
Needless to say, Notre Dame must have made a very strong impression.
Despite being announced yesterday, Bryce’s move to Notre Dame has been in the works for some time. James toured campus on July 21, but given Bronny’s recent health scare, it’s clear as to why an official announcement was delayed.
Bryce James will be a junior this fall and currently ranks as a three-star prospect.
