Arizona Marvelous Ideas: Shareef O’Neal, Shaq’s son, commits to the Arizona Wildcats

Shaq in McKale Center is about to become a regular thing

In November, NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal made a rare appearance at McKale Center.

In 2018, it could be a regular occurrence.

Shaq’s son, 2018 four-star recruit Shareef O’Neal, has committed to the Arizona Wildcats, according to California Supreme, Shareef’s AAU team.

2018 Santa Monica (CA) Crossroads PF Shareef O'Neal has committed to Arizona, per his AAU team Cal Supreme. Shaq's son is Top 40 prospect.
— Josh Gershon (@JoshGershon) April 19, 2017

While the 6-foot-9, 204 pound forward isn’t as physically imposing as his 7-foot-1 father and he plays a more perimeter-oriented game, Shareef is highly-touted in his own right.

The Santa Monica (CA) Crossroads product is the No. 31 prospect in the 2018 class, per 247Sports.com .

O’Neal unofficially visited Arizona with his father on Nov. 18. He was considering several schools, including UCLA, USC, Cal, Kansas, and LSU (his father’s alma mater).

Arizona 2017 signee Ira Lee, O’Neal’s AAU teammate, has actively been recruiting O’Neal and it appears to have paid off.

"I've been to Arizona for an unofficial visit and the campus was great, the coaches treated us like family,” O’Neal told Rivals.com. “I know they let their bigs shoot and play the perimeter and that's the kind of thing I like. My teammate Ira Lee is obviously going there, so he's been talking to me about the program."

O’Neal joins five-star forward Emmanuel Akot as the second member in Arizona’s 2018 recruiting class.

Also on O’Neal’s AAU team is Bol Bol, the son of former NBA giant Manute Bol. Bol is the No. 16 player in the 2018 recruiting class and holds an offer from Arizona, according to 247Sports.

Arizona is looking to become “Son-of-former-NBA-player U” apparently, but for good reason.

Here are some of O’Neal’s highlights: