In March 2018, he helped the North Coast Blue Chips capture a John Lucas All-Star Weekend title in Houston. On April 2, 2018, his Blue Chips finished undefeated and claimed the under-13 championship at the NY2LA Swish 'N Dish tournament in Wisconsin. In June, James represented the same team at the Jr. National Basketball Association (NBA) Midwest Championships against ninth grade opponents and advanced to the quarterfinals. In April 2019, despite being younger than most of the competition at age 14, he joined AAU team Strive for Greatness at the under-16 Nike EYBL in Indianapolis, where he faced a number of highly coveted recruits and drew praise from scouts.