Back in November, NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal made a rare appearance at the McKale Center. His appearances could become a regular occurrence as his son, Shareef O’Neal, has committed to the Arizona Wildcats.
Although he isn’t as physically imposed as his father, Shareef has become in his own right a very respected player on the court. The style of play for the school’s basketball program is what piqued his interest.
According to 247Sports.com, the Santa Monica (CA) Crossroads product is listed as the No. 31 prospect in the 2018 recruiting class. The 6-foot-9, 210 pound forward averaged 14.1 points and 7.3 rebounds last season for Crossroads High.
A four-star recruit, O’Neal unofficially visited Arizona on Nov. 18 with his father. He has received offers from schools such as UCLA, USC, Cal, Kansas and even his father’s alma mater, LSU.
O’Neal’s teammate, Ira Lee, is a 2017 signee with Arizona, who many believes have been actively recruiting him. “The campus was great and the coaches treated us like family,” said O’Neal of his campus visit. “My teammate Ira Lee has been talking to me about the program.”
He will join five-star forward Emmanual Akot as the second member in the 2018 recruiting class for Arizona. His AAU teammate Bol Bol, the son of NBA giant Manute Bol, is the No. 16 player in his recruiting class and holds an offer from Arizona as well.
Arizona is well on its way to becoming the son-of-former-NBA-player university pretty soon.