Shareef O'Neal signs financial aid papers with Arizona Wildcats

Both of UA's 2018 commits have now signed

On Wednesday, Sean Miller was supposed to announce the signing of 2018 point guard recruit Brandon Williams.

Instead, he unexpectedly pushed the announcement back a day. Now we know why.

2018 forward Shareef O'Neal has signed financial aid papers with the Arizona Wildcats, too, reports Scout.com's Josh Gershon.

Top 40 247Sports Composite 2018 PF Shareef O'Neal has signed financial aid papers with #Arizona. https://t.co/KU9o42fvnZ

— Josh Gershon (@JoshGershon) November 17, 2017

Unlike the National Letter of Intent, the documents O'Neal signed are non-binding, meaning he can still back out from his commitment if he so chooses, which could presumably happen depending what results of the ongoing federal investigation.

Williams signed the same paperwork last week.

Both signings are somewhat of a surprise since the L.A. Times and other outlets reported that Williams and O'Neal were going to wait until the spring to sign with Arizona when they would know more about the program's state.

While neither Williams nor O'Neal are legally binded to Arizona, their signings allow the Wildcats to comment publicly on them, which Miller is expected to do Thursday after Arizona's game vs. Cal State Bakersfield.

Williams and O'Neal comprise what is the nation's No. 26 recruiting class.

The Wildcats once had the No. 1 recruiting class, but five-star point guard Jahvon Quinerly decommitted once the FBI's investigation went public.

Arizona was also dropped from consideration by several top-10 prospects in the wake of the investigation.

Miller once said Arizona would sign five to seven players in its 2018 class, but he said in October that he's "not sure" if that will be the case. It is unclear who the Wildcats are pursuing at the moment.

Williams, a 6-foot-3 point guard from Encino, Calif., is the No. 38 player in his class.

O'Neal, a 6-foot-9 forward from Santa Monica, Calif., is the No. 32 player in his class and the son of NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O'Neal.

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Follow Ryan Kelapire on Twitter at @RKelapire

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