Shareef Rashaun O'Neal (born January 11, 2000) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player for the

NBA G League Ignite The NBA G League Ignite is a developmental basketball team in the NBA G League. Based in Henderson, Nevada, the team was designed to play exhibition games outside the G League's traditional scheduling as part of a one-year development program for e ...

of the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA De ...

. The son of Hall of Fame player Shaquille O'Neal, he attended Crossroads School in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing t ...

. As a senior forward, O'Neal was ranked among the top high school basketball players of his class. He was a

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during his first season in college with the

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) ...

, when he underwent heart surgery. He played as a

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for the Bruins in 2019–20 before transferring midseason to the

LSU Tigers The LSU Tigers and Lady Tigers are the athletic teams representing Louisiana State University (LSU), a state university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. LSU competes in NCAA Division I, Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Associat ...

Early life

Born in Los Angeles, O'Neal is the son of former

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

(NBA) player Shaquille O'Neal and Shaunie O'Neal. He has two older half-siblings, Taahirah and Myles, and three younger siblings: Amirah, Shaqir, and Me'arah. Despite his father's basketball fame, Shareef grew up without a passion for the game and preferred skateboarding. His interest in basketball grew after he had a disappointing performance at a middle school

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It h ...

game and was prompted to "prove everybody wrong" on the court. At age 13, O'Neal began training regularly and was able to dunk.

High school career

Starting in his freshman season, O'Neal played basketball for

Windward School Windward School is an independent school in the Mar Vista neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. It was founded by writer/teacher Shirley Windward in 1971. The school currently enr ...

in Los Angeles at the forward position. His highlight videos immediately helped him gain popularity on the Internet and appeared in ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

''. However, he received limited playing time because the team's six seniors earned the most minutes. Head coach Steve Smith viewed O'Neal's first season with Windward as a "learning year" and expected him to assume a larger role in the following season. At the end of the season, he was averaging 3.7 points and 2.9 rebounds per game. In May 2015, O'Neal received a scholarship offer from USC, his first from an

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athletic ...

program. In the following months, he had additional offers from Baylor,

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

, and

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

. O'Neal remained with Windward as a sophomore and saw significant improvement. In October 2015, at a tournament in Fairfax High School that featured many top high school teams in the nation, O'Neal scored 23 points in a loss to Bishop Alemany. O'Neal, in December, drew attention from scouts at the

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Holiday Classic despite his team's struggles. He became known as a versatile swingman with ball-handling, shooting, and defending skills. On June 29, 2016, the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'' announced that O'Neal would transfer to Crossroads School in Santa Monica. He joined the team expected to take a leading role with top high school recruit Ira Lee. On January 6, 2017, O'Neal scored 15 points in a 54–50 win over Brentwood. In a 44–80 loss to Mater Dei on February 17, he scored 20 points in a matchup with Bol Bol, son of former NBA player

Manute Bol Manute Bol (; October 16, 1962 – June 19, 2010) was a Sudanese-American professional basketball player and political activist. Listed at or tall, Bol was tied with Gheorghe Mureșan as the tallest player in the history of the National Bas ...

Recruiting

In April 2017, O'Neal committed to play college basketball for

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

. On February 24, 2018, he decommitted from Arizona immediately following

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by ESPN that FBI wiretaps had intercepted phone conversations between Arizona coach

Sean Miller Sean Edward Miller (born November 17, 1968) is an American college basketball coach who currently serves as head coach of the Xavier Musketeers. He previously was in that position from 2004 to 2009, after which he took the head coach position f ...

and an agent discussing paying $100,000 to ensure star player

Deandre Ayton Deandre Edoneille Ayton Sr. (born July 23, 1998) is a Bahamian professional basketball player who plays for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played for the Arizona Wildcats in the Pac-12 Conference in the 2017� ...

signed with Arizona. Because he signed a nonbinding financial aid agreement with Arizona instead of a formal

letter of intent A letter of intent (LOI or LoI, or Letter of Intent) is a document outlining the understanding between two or more parties which they intend to formalize in a legally binding agreement. The concept is similar to a heads of agreement, term sh ...

, he did not require a release from Arizona to seek out a new school. O'Neal verbally committed to

on February 27, but he did not sign a National Letter of Intent during the signing period that ended on May 16. He signed with the Bruins in August.

College career

UCLA (2018–2020)

During practices over the summer, O'Neal began dealing with some health issues, and was given a heart monitor by doctors to wear. On September 28, 2018, UCLA announced that he would miss the 2018–19 season but remain enrolled at the school as a medical

. He was diagnosed with a heart condition by the UCLA medical staff, and underwent surgery in December. He played in the Drew League over the summer, and later in the Bruins' exhibition game. He wore a monitoring device during practice for post-surgery research on his heart but did not wear it during games. In April 2019, UCLA hired Mick Cronin as their head coach to replace the fired

Steve Alford Stephen Todd Alford (born November 23, 1964) is an American men's college basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach for the Nevada Wolf Pack of the Mountain West Conference (MWC). Born and raised in Indiana, he was a ...

. O'Neal made his UCLA debut in the 2019–20 season opener, playing six minutes without scoring against Long Beach State. On December 14, 2019, he had his best game of the season with eight points and a career-high 11 rebounds in a loss against Notre Dame. In a win against

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

on January 19, 2020, Cronin elected not to play O'Neal for the fifth time during the season. On January 22, O'Neal announced that he was leaving UCLA. He averaged 2.2 points and 2.9 rebounds in 10.2 minutes per game as a

for the Bruins, who were 9–9 at the time.

LSU (2020–2022)

On February 14, 2020, O'Neal announced that he was transferring to

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

, where his father played college basketball. O'Neal suffered a foot injury that kept him from the

Tigers The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on un ...

' first few conference games of the 2020–21 season, and was limited to 10 games played overall for the season. He missed the first 12 games of 2021–22 while recovering from his foot injury. He played in 14 games, averaging 2.9 points and 2.1 rebounds while playing an average of 9.4 minutes per game. After the season, he entered the

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. On June 6, 2022, O'Neal declared for the NBA draft after he was mistakenly placed on the list of early entrants who had withdrawn from the draft.

Professional career

NBA G League Ignite (2022–present)

After going undrafted in the

2022 NBA draft The 2022 NBA draft (branded as the 2022 NBA Draft presented by State Farm for sponsorship reasons), the 76th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual draft, was held on June 23, 2022, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The ...

, O'Neal played with the Los Angeles Lakers in the

2022 NBA Summer League The 2022 NBA Summer League, also branded as the NBA 2K23 Summer League 2022, was an off-season competition held by the National Basketball Association (NBA) primarily at the Thomas and Mack Center and Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, Nevada on the campu ...

. On September 28, 2022, he signed with the

as a veteran player since he was draft eligible in the

2022 NBA Draft The 2022 NBA draft (branded as the 2022 NBA Draft presented by State Farm for sponsorship reasons), the 76th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual draft, was held on June 23, 2022, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The ...

. O'Neal was named to the G League's inaugural Next Up Game for the 2022–23 season.

Career statistics

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:center;" colspan="11",

Medical Redshirt , - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;",

, 13 , , 0 , , 10.2 , , .321 , , .333 , , .474 , , 2.9 , , .2 , , .3 , , .2 , , 2.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2020–21 , style="text-align:left;",

, 10 , , 0 , , 14.5 , , .375 , , .182 , , .500 , , 4.4 , , .0 , , .5 , , .5 , , 2.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2021–22 , style="text-align:left;",

, 14 , , 0 , , 9.2 , , .500 , , .143 , , .467 , , 2.1 , , .1 , , .1 , , .4 , , 2.9 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 37 , , 0 , , 11.0 , , .405 , , .208 , , .480 , , 3.0 , , .1 , , .3 , , .4 , , 2.6

References

External links

LSU Tigers bioUCLA Bruins bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oneal, Shareef 2000 births Living people African-American basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from Los Angeles LSU Tigers men's basketball players NBA G League Ignite players Power forwards (basketball) UCLA Bruins men's basketball players Windward School alumni 21st-century African-American sportspeople