Cincinnati point guard Jizzle James, the son of Edgerrin James, the running Hall of Fame son, has been fired from the team, according to a statement from coach Wes Miller.
Jizzle James is committed to Cincinnati in 2023
James came to Cincinnati with a four-star prospect in his 2023 class and was seen as one of the league’s highest return players after his outstanding performance with Big 12 contenders including Houston, Iowa State and Texas Tech last year.
“James has been dealing with personal issues throughout the summer,” Miller said in a statement Tuesday. “We evacuated him from the team last month. He is not currently a member of our basketball program. Since it is a personal issue, I will have no other comments at the moment.”
James was 31 in December and had 37 games (two starts) in the 2021-22 season before starting all 35 games in 2024-25.
Last season, James had a career high of 12.7 points, 3.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 27.1 minutes of games, while shooting 40% from the field while the arc exceeded 28.2%.
The Pandas have not competed in the NCAA Championships in either of two seasons and have not competed in Madness since the 2018-19 year campaign.
James no longer wants to play for Pandas
Keegan Knickoson of 247Sports reported that James stayed in Cincinnati despite great interest from other schools across the country.
However, Nicoson also noted that James “had a screenshot of a conversation with his agent Noah Eisenberg, … seems to convey that he no longer wants to play for Pandas. James also posted screenshots of the argument with his teammates.”
Although his father became an NFL star running, James got basketball and received offers from ACC and SEC schools. He chose Cincinnati instead of Georgia and LSU.
Cincinnati’s backcourt enters the 2025-26 season, which includes several veterans, including return defender Thomas, West Virginia transfers Sencire Harris and Kentucky Transfer Kerr Kriisa.
The Pandas completed the 2024-25 season with a record of 19-16 (7-13 in 12 competitions).
