Biography

High school

Freshman year

James attended St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron. He was the starting point guard on a team led by James’ future best friend and manager Maverick Carter. Although Carter is commonly referred to as James’ cousin, they are not actually related. With James at the point and the primacy of Carter, the team cruised to a perfect 27-0 record and won the Division III state championship. James averaged 18.2 points and 6 rebounds per game.

Sophomore year

James took over the helm of the team after Carter’s graduation and averaged 27.8 points, 7.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists, and four steals for SVSM en route to another state title. He was subsequently named Ohio’s “Mr. Basketball”and selected to the USA Today All-USA First Team — the first sophomore to be so honored.

An avid football player in addition to basketball, James was also able to add to his resume the distinction of being First-Team All-State as a wide receiver for his high school team. However, injury concerns influenced James to concentrate solely on basketball.

Junior year

In James’ third year of high school his stats improved even further. He averaged 29.7 points and 8.4 rebounds, and was once again named Mr. Basketball Ohio. In addition, he again found a spot on the All-USA First Team, and was named the 2001-02 Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year. It was then that his nickname “King” James would become a household staple in Ohio.

In his junior year, he appeared in SLAM Magazine which was the beginning of his nationwide exposure.

However, the St. Vincent-St. Mary basketball team failed to defend its state title when it moved up to the more challenging Division II and lost to Cincinnati’s Roger Bacon High School. James attempted to declare for the NBA Draft, petitioning for an adjustment to the NBA’s rules of draft eligibility, which then required the completion of high school by a prospective player. The petition was unsuccessful, but it led to an unprecedented level of attention on him as he entered his senior year. By then, “King” James had already appeared on the covers of Sports Illustrated and ESPN The Magazine. His popularity soared to new heights, forcing his team to move from their playing at the school gym to the nearby James A. Rhodes Arena at the University of Akron. Celebrities such as Shaquille O’Neal attended some of the games, hoping to get a glimpse of the prodigious young basketball player. A few of James’s high school games were even televised nationally on ESPN2 and regionally on pay-per-view.

Senior year

Gloria James touched off a firestorm of controversy when she was allowed to use her son’s future earning power as collateral to secure a bank loan to buy an $80,000 Hummer H2 for her son’s 18th birthday, prompting an investigation by the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA). Under the OHSAA guidelines, no amateur may accept any gift valued over $100 as a reward for athletic performance. When James later accepted two throwback basketball jerseys worth $845 from NEXT, an urban clothing store in Shaker Square, in exchange for his posing for pictures to be displayed on the store’s walls, OHSAA stripped him of his eligibility. James appealed and a judge blocked the ruling, reducing the penalty to a two-game suspension and allowing him to play the remainder of the season. However, James’s team was forced to forfeit one of their wins as a result.

Despite the distractions, the Irish won a third state title, and James, for an unprecedented third time, was named Mr. Basketball Ohio and to the All-USA First Team. He earned MVP honors at the McDonald’s All-American Game, the EA Sports Roundball Classic, and the Jordan Capital Classic. Although it was a foregone conclusion, by participating in more than two high school all-star events, James legally lost his NCAA eligibility.