The Rise of Bruce Branch III
Could He Be the next Pro in PROvo?
Bruce Branch was right in the center behind the banner. In March 2024, Perry High School (Gilbert, AZ) had just won its third consecutive state championship. Freshman Branch logged 0 minutes. Not unusual for a freshman to not play in the state championship game. He’s not hard to find in the pictures, already 6’4” smiling with his fresh t-shirt on.
Fast forward to the beginning of 2026 and Bruce Branch looks like a lock. Not to play varsity, but to play in the NBA. NBA mock drafts have him as the potential number 1 pick in the 2027 NBA Draft. He just has to finish high school and dominate a year of college basketball first.
During the summer of ‘24 Branch earned his first offer from Fresno St, playing for the Compton Magic. During the 24-25 high school season Branch cracked the starting line up at Perry. Perry was nationally ranked and led by the number eight player in the country Koa Peat, also a member of the Compton Magic. Branch had grown to 6’7” and showed himself to be an elite defender, but still found himself the 4th option behind Peat and seniors D’Andre Harrison and NoNo Brown who were future college players and had started the past two seasons during Perry’s championship run. Branch made huge contributions in the state championship game and Perry rolled 63-44. The story in the paper focuses on Peat playing through a broken hand and Perry completing the 4-peat.
In January of ‘25, Branch was not ranked among the top 25 players in the class of ‘27, but he was being noticed. His 7’1” wing span and elite skill set stood out even if he wasn’t getting many shots during the high school season. The number of college offers climbed into double digits. During the summer club season, Branch played against players a year older than him and thrived. He ended up averaging 15 points and 5 rebounds and shooting 42% from three. In late May, he was invited to the prestigious Adidas Euro Camp. Once again, he was a year younger than everyone on his team. He took home the “Rising Star” award as his team went undefeated.
Back at Perry, Koa Peat had moved on to the University of Arizona. The rest of the starting line up graduated and even Coach Sam Duane Jr. retired. Branch transferred to P
rolific Prep Academy, where Darryn Peterson made a name for himself. In the rankings, Branch was climbing. 10th, then 6th and finally ranked 2nd in the class of ‘27 as the summer ends. In August, the number one player in the class of ‘27, Baba Oladotun from Maryland, reclassified to the class of ‘26, making Branch the de facto number one ranked player in the ‘27 group.
On November 22, Branch announced that he would reclassify and graduate with the 2026 class. With the announcement came an ESPN article that made it clear that BYU was heavily involved. It’s hard to know exactly when BYU entered the recruitment of Branch. There was never an Instagram post acknowledging an offer from BYU, the instagram post functioning as the official notary of offers between schools and players. A Sam Lance post on X acknowledged a BYU Assistant Coach attending a number of Compton Magic games in May.
It’s clear the value Branch would offer the Cougars. There’s a lot of comparisons to AJ, but he might be even more valuable sliding in for Richie Saunders at the 2. He has great positional length, could carry a lot of the ball handling load and shoots threes at a high percentage. For a class without a clear cut future pro, the brain trust of PROvo has invested heavily in Branch.
Branch has not taken any official visits. Prolific Prep has league playoffs March 13-22 and should qualify for the Chipotle Nationals the first week of April. Branch will likely make his decision in early April. Arizona is thought to be the Cougars biggest competition. The Wildcats scored big with a number of high ranked spring commitments last season, including Koa Peat.