UPDATE, Feb. 27: O'Neal has given a verbal commitment to UCLA, according to multiple reports.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE, WITH EDITS:
Arizona's name was sullied even more last Saturday when Yahoo Sports reported head coach Sean Miller was allegedly caught on tape attempting to arrange a $100,000 payment to Wildcats big man Deandre Ayton in exchange for his signature. Hours before the Wildcats' matchup against Oregon, a game they lost 98-93 in overtime, four-star prospect Shareef O'Neal, the son of Hall of Famer Shaquille O'Neal, announced he was decommitting from Arizona and reopening his recruitment amid the FBI probe that has sent shockwaves throughout college basketball.
But where will the 6-9, 204-pounder out of Crossroads School (Santa, Monica, Calif.), ranked No. 33 overall and ninth among power forwards by 247 Sports, wind up after backing out of a pledge he made in November?
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Sporting News looks at three viable options.
Oregon
Buddy ball is all the rage nowadays and there might not be a bigger bromance in high major college basketball recruiting than the one between Shareef O'Neal and five-star center Oregon commit Bol Bol. The two are best friends, have an NBA lineage (Bol is the son of the late former center Manute Bol) and were once teammates on Nike Elite Youth Basketball League outfit California Supreme. They're nearly inseparable off the court and would seem to be a good fit on the floor, with Bol's towering presence inside and O'Neal's ability to step out on the perimeter and play small forward.
However, there may not be any space for O'Neal among a loaded Ducks 2018 recruiting class, ranked No. 2 in the country. Along with Bol, the nation's top-rated center and fourth-ranked player overall, Oregon has commitments from 6-8 Hudson Catholic (N.J.) small forward Louis King, 6-4 Oak Hill (Va.) shooting guard Will Richardson and 6-10 Brewster Academy (N.H.) power forward Miles Norris, all of whom are ranked in 247 Sports' top 60. We're willing to bet, though, that Oregon coach Dana Altman will figure out a way to make room for O'Neal if he senses he has a legitimate shot at landing him. There's also an outside chance O'Neal's old man could foot the bill for his son to head to Eugene if that's where he really, really wants to be.
Kentucky
Kentucky hasn't even offered Shareef O'Neal, but that hasn't stopped members of the Wildcats' current recruiting class from pitching O'Neal on the program, according to USA Today.
On the floor, leaving Los Angeles and taking his talents to Lexington might make perfect sense for O'Neal. Kentucky's only secured verbal pledges are from three guards: McDonald's All-Amerians Keldon Johnson (Oak Hill Academy) and Immanuel Quickley (John Carroll, Md.) and four-star sharpshooter Tyler Herro (Whitnall, Wis.). Joining an elite point guard such as Quickley, once thought to be a package deal with Duke-bound Zion Williamson, and filling the void that will likely be left by versatile forward Kevin Knox, the Wildcats' leading scorer and potential 2018 lottery pick, would be a power play. Kentucky freshmen Shai-Gilgeous Alexander and Hamidou Diallo are also projected to be first-round choices should they declare for the draft, so there could be plenty of shots for O'Neal in coach John Calipari's offense.
LSU
Had it been up to Shaquille O'Neal, his son would've committed to his alma mater in the first place.
"I just sat back and let my son make his own choice, and that was Arizona,” Shaq told TigerRag.com “And believe me, I was pushing for LSU. I was really, really pushing. I was like, ‘Please go to LSU.’”
The Tigers have the nation's No. 3 recruiting class, having already secured signatures from five-star Roselle Catholic (N.J.) power forward Nazreon Reid and a pair of four-star prospects: 6-4 Scotllandville Magnet (La.) combo guard Ja'Vonte Smart and 6-7 power forward Darius Days. On Jan. 26, LSU received a commitment from 6-7 Oak Ridge (Fla.) forward Emmitt Williams. Adding Shareef O'Neal could make the Tigers one of the more promising teams in the country to begin the 2018-19 season.