Shareef O'Neal

Shareef Rashaun O'Neal (born January 11, 2000) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the NBA G League Ignite of the NBA G League. The son of Hall of Fame player Shaquille O'Neal, he attended Crossroads School in Santa Monica, California. As a senior forward, O'Neal was ranked among the top high school basketball players of his class. He was a redshirt during his first season in college with the UCLA Bruins, when he underwent heart surgery. He played as a reserve for the Bruins in 2019–20 before transferring midseason to the LSU Tigers. Early life Born in Los Angeles, O'Neal is the son of former National Basketball Association (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 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 in Los Angeles at the forward position. His highlight videos immediately helped him gain popularity on the Internet and appeared in The Washington Post. 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 program. In the following months, he had additional offers from Baylor, LSU, UCLA, and Kansas State. 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 MaxPreps Holiday Classic despite his team's struggles. He became known as a versatile swingman with ball-handling, shooting, and defending skills.