Shaq’s son Shareef O’Neal commits to Arizona and is getting noticed

Crossroads High School junior Shareef O’Neal committed to play college ball at the University of Arizona and is making a name for himself.

Shareef O’Neal, son of Los Angeles Lakers Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal, recently announced he will be attending the University of Arizona next season.

He tweeted out his announcement and garnered a whopping 22,000 likes, almost 8,000 re-tweets and 225 replies.

That night, Shareef went on TNT’s Inside the NBA to talk about his decision. He decided to not go to his dad’s alma mater, LSU, or Charles Barkley‘s college, Auburn.

"“They were pretty far down [the list],” said O’Neal."

He got a lot of love from the TNT crew.

In a little more than a month, Shareef went from playing for Crossroads High School in the CIF playoffs to announcing his decision to accept a scholarship from Sean Miller.

Then he showed up at the Ballislife All-American game, much to the delight of his fans, and then he played with his AAU teammate Bol Bol (Manute Bol‘s son) on his Cal Supreme team in Atlanta. Bol and O’Neal play very well together, it seems so natural,

Shareef made a HUGE splash with his dad in the crowd. Shaq must be so proud of his son, he is truly coming into his own as a young man and athlete.

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Bol Bol also has an offer from Arizona Men’s Basketball for their 2018 class. Just this last week, although the Lakers had shown interested in Rawle Alkins, Alkins decided to forgo the NBA Draft and go back to play another year.

The Lakers did work out former Arizona Wildcats Chance Comanche and Ka’Deem Allen in the last couple weeks.

Remember that Lakers coaches Luke Walton and Jesse Mermuys are also former Wildcats, so they pay attention to their team all the way through the NCAA season. Maybe someday Shareef could also be a Laker? Time will tell.

The five-star Shareef is headlining the Arizona Wildcats 2018 class. He was sharing the bill with another five-star Emmanuel Akot, but Akot decided to reclassify to the 2017 class this week.

That leaves O’Neal alone in the class but not for long, Arizona’s 2018 class could potentially include Brandon Williams (five-star), Bol Bol (five-star), and will definitely include, in a way, Duke transfer Chase Jeter who will have to sit out the 2017 season and will be ready to play with O’Neal.

Shareef still has another year in high school and, thankfully for us Lakers fans, he will play in and around Los Angeles. This young man is rising to new levels every day. Not only is he an exciting dunk or three, he also has a beautiful three-point shot.

O’Neal dunks with ease and it’s so fun to watch. He dunks on anyone who will take him on including football players, teammates, opponents and even 10 elementary school students who already want to play just like him.

Shareef is very active on social media making him accessible and very popular. Shareef draws a crowd wherever he goes and is becoming a pro at taking selfies and giving autographs.

Luckily he is used to all the attention, hanging around his dad and other sons of Lakers such as Ron Artest Jr., who plays for Beverly Hills High School and in the Drew League for his dad, Metta World Peace.

You can’t help but fall for the guy. Reef has an infectious smile, he is funny, he is calm under pressure, and he is seriously talented. But one thing is for sure, he is his own man.

Shareef wants to make a name for himself and Shaq does his best to let his son have the spotlight, which is commendable.

https://twitter.com/cynreef/status/854923457074577408

Shareef spoke to me after a CIF (California) playoff game against Mater Dei before he announced his commitment. He wants to be a leader and you can see how comfortable he is in taking on that role.

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There you have it! Stay tuned to the Lake Show Life or our sister NCAA site, Zona Zealots for more on the Arizona Wildcats and Shareef’s progress.