There’s another Bruce that Bruce Branch III admires:
Bruce Wayne.
Yes, Branch is a big Batman fan. The Caped Crusader has been his favorite superhero since childhood, largely due to playing the Lego Batman video game on Xbox 360.
If you go to Branch’s Instagram, you’ll notice his profile picture is Batman — in Lego form, of course.
“I love how resilient he is,” Branch told the Deseret News. “He has no superpowers, yet he’s in the Justice League, he’s one of the best superheroes in his universe.”
As for Branch, he’s already proved heroic on the hardwood for BYU. The five-star freshman forward has averaged 13.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal across his first two regular-season collegiate outings, all while shooting 47% from the field.
When including BYU’s two preseason exhibitions, Branch is averaging 4.3 assists per game, having dished out eight assists on the road against UNLV.
And he’s less than a month removed from turning 18 years old.
“I think one of Bruce’s superpowers is his IQ for his age,” BYU coach Kevin Young said before the regular season.
“He sees the game extremely slow, which is really not normal for young players, usually everything’s too fast. I think the game is pretty slow for him, which allows him to process things, make the right passes, know when to attack. His IQ has been really impressive so far.”
‘BYU was just so perfect’
Branch was once the No. 1-rated recruit in the class of 2027, only to reclassify up to the class of 2026 and rank No. 6 there.
BYU coaches frequently attended Branch’s high school games at both Perry High (Gilbert, Arizona) and Prolific Prep (Fort Lauderdale, Florida), something he said “hit me deep.”
Upon reclassifying, BYU became a “top priority” for Branch, who only took one other recruiting visit outside of his trip to Provo this past January.
He officially committed to the Cougars in March, and the eight months since then have only made the ever-affable Branch more enthusiastic about his choice.
“Honestly, I really wasn’t expecting much, but it was enough to make me cry,” Branch said of his BYU visit. “It was beautiful, just from how respectful and kind the people were, to the coaching staff and how much they cared, KY and everything they showed me, with the facilities and the Marriott Center.”
“... BYU was just so perfect for me, with the love they showed to me and my family. I just love it here.”
Next man up
Each season of Young’s BYU tenure has featured a highly-touted Cougars freshman wearing No. 3 — first it was Egor Dëmin, then AJ Dybantsa, and now Branch.
Dëmin and Dybantsa were each taken in the top 10 of the NBA draft, with Dybantsa being selected as the No. 1 overall pick last June.
Will Branch be next?
Plenty of experts and analysts believe so. ESPN has even ranked Branch as the No. 3 prospect for next year’s draft.
Yet Branch has no interest in thinking about his NBA future at the moment, telling the Deseret News at Big 12 media days in Kansas City that he’s still a long way from deciding if he’ll be “one and done” at BYU.
“A lot of my friends love to tell me, ‘Oh, you’re going top five in the draft next year,’ and I just kind of tune it out,” Branch said.
“Man, I just want to win. In order for me to do something like (be a top draft pick), we’ve got to win. I’ve got to focus on the now, and right now it’s BYU. BYU basketball is my priority.”
‘I’m just being myself’
Branch is also tuning out the comparisons others will make between him and Dybantsa, considering he’s wearing the same number, playing the same position and arriving at BYU after the current Washington Wizards star.
But there’s no need to judge Branch against Dybantsa. Their styles and roles are quite different — “AJ was obviously more of a scorer, whereas Bruce is a little bit more cerebral, a little bit more opportunistic with his scoring combined with his playmaking,” Young explains.
Most importantly, BYU isn’t asking for — and doesn’t need — Branch to do what Dybantsa did last season.
Branch didn’t come to BYU to be the next Dybantsa. BYU pursued the uber-athletic, well-rounded Branch so he could be himself, and the early returns have been excellent.
“I’m very confident in myself, I know I’m a great player. I’m just being myself, and as long as I be myself, I’m going to do great things, and we’re going to do great things at BYU,” Branch said.
“So I’m not really focused on or really looking into what Egor and AJ did. I just want to start my own (legacy), and I’ll just do whatever I can for us to win this year.”
A versatile contributor
It’s clear Branch can score from anywhere on the floor, as he’s been seen rocking the rim, dancing down the lane and draining from midrange on a number of occasions already this year.
While he’s shooting just 29% from behind the arc thus far, he did hit 3 of 5 triples in the Cougars’ exhibition against Nebraska. With BYU’s solid spacing and his own perimeter potential, finding greater 3-point success should come with time.
Where Branch could most stand out against his fellow draft prospects, however, is his rebounding and defensive ability.
Listed at 6-foot-8 and boasting a 7-foot-1 wingspan, he’s shown strong flashes as a defender, with the Ohio State and Omaha players he guarded combining to shoot just 30% (3 of 10) from the field against him.
Young believes Branch can be “elite on that end of the floor,” and the freshman further emerging as BYU’s defensive alpha would go a long way for the Cougars in reaching their ceiling.
Additionally, in the FIBA U18 Men’s Americup this summer, rebounding became Branch’s main asset for Team USA, averaging 8.6 boards per game and grabbing 33 rebounds during one three-game stretch.
“I mean, scoring is fun, but you’ve got to rebound, you’ve got to do the little things,” Branch said.
“I see myself as a Scottie Pippen, who was a phenomenal player, with a little bit of Paul George. Both are great players who did great things on both sides of the floor, so just really looking at them and just learning from them; I’ve always taken pride in defending and doing the dirty work.”
‘We’ve got to win this year’
It’s early, but Branch appears to be part of one of BYU’s deepest teams in recent memory.
“I’ve got great pieces around me,” he says with a smile.
The new-look Cougars are clicking quickly, scoring more than 100 points per game thus far and currently sitting at No. 23 in the national polls.
Rob Wright III is playing like a true All-America candidate. Collin Chandler has taken a noticeable leap offensively, Tyler Betsey seemingly can’t miss from 3-point range, and Jaxon Kohler’s skillset as a stretch big has made BYU so much more dynamic.
Jake Wahlin, Nate Pickens, Brooks Bahr and Khadim Mboup make up an effective BYU bench corps — one that’s still awaiting the deep shooting services of Dawson Baker upon his return from injury.
It’s a prime environment for an ascending player to grow and flourish. In playing alongside veteran teammates, Branch will have plenty of support on the court. He’ll never be tasked with shouldering an overwhelming load on his own, thus allowing him to impact each game in different ways while continuing to develop throughout the season.
Branch doesn’t have to be a hero every night. He just has to find ways to complement and augment BYU’s operation — and maintain his fervent urgency for victory.
So far, so good.
“I want to win, and we’ve got to do it,” Branch said. “We’ve got to win this year. We’re all ready for it.”
