Another O’Neal is set to patrol the paint in Los Angeles.
Shareef O’Neal, son of NBA great Shaquille, signed with UCLA on Monday, the school announced.
The younger O’Neal originally committed to the Bruins in February.
“Shareef has made great strides throughout his high school career,” Bruins coach Steve Alford said in a statement released by the school. “He’s an outstanding addition to our incoming class and brings a terrific combination of size, skill and athleticism. We love the length and height of this year’s team, and Shareef is really going to add to that dynamic.
“He has a terrific frame, one that will allow him to continue improving on both sides of the floor. With Shareef, you’re talking about a hard-working young man with tremendous upside, and his presence in our team’s frontcourt is a significant addition.”
There was some speculation that O’Neal may have difficulty being academically eligible this past spring, but his signing should put those concerns to rest.
The Bruins are getting, in addition to one of the sport’s great names, a top-50 recruit who originally committed to Arizona before the Wildcats became embroiled in the federal investigation into corruption in college basketball. O’Neal is 6-foot-10 and 220 pounds, and he averaged 27 points per game during his senior high school.
And here are some highlights from Shaq’s LSU days because A) Any excuse is a good excuse to watch Shaq highlights and B) We don’t talk about what a menace we was as a college player enough.