Shareef O’Neal absolutely has Arizona Basketball on his FINAL list of schools

Four-Star class of 2018 Arizona Basketball target and son of one of the one most legendary and recognizable names, Shaquille O’Neal, Shareef O’Neal enjoyed his Arizona visit.

Shaq has done a fabulous job raising Shareef. You can tell in his demeanor, his play and his desire to lead his team. The 17-year-old Crossroads high school junior is 6-foot-9 and 204 pounds, he’s not done growing in more ways that one.

It was music to my ears when the young phenom power forward who is Shareef O’Neal told me that Arizona was in his final list of schools. “I can see myself as a Wildcat, it will be a school in my final decision,” Shareef told ZZ.

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O’Neal is a five-star recruit according to ESPN with his smooth shot and toughness under the basket. He already understands that second chance points and offensive boards can win games, because he demonstrates those skills each time he plays. According to Shareef, dad Shaquille is focused on helping his son be a leader both on the court and off the court, and that’s commendable.

In addition to Arizona, Shareef is being targeted by a number of top schools such as No. 3 Kansas, No. 11 Duke, No. 20 Florida State, the No. 10 Kentucky Wildcats, No. 5 UCLA, USC, Cal, Wazzu and of course his dad’s school LSU.

If I am his mom, I am going to want him to stay close to home so I can go to his games, and Westwood is in his backyard. His dad is going to want him to go to a team where he can shine as a leader and be fed into the NBA as a top draft pick. Simmons did well at LSU, the team didn’t, but he shined there and went on to be a top NBA draft pick.

According to Gabrielle McMillan of Sporting News, Shaq is leaving it up to his son:

"“I want him to be able to create his own path, pick his own path,” Shaq said on not pressuring his son to go to LSU. “However, he did mention to me Kentucky, Michigan State or Duke.”"

Well, we can add Arizona in that mix now. When talking to Shareef it is clear, he wants to go somewhere he is adored, and Arizona gave him a ton of love on his unofficial visit to Tucson for the Red and Blue Game. The coaches, the students, everyone poured Wildcat love on him, and it didn’t go unnoticed by this young phenom.

If all the stars lined up it would be fun to hear Brian Jeffries announce a game with Shareef and Simmons, ‘Kobi dishes off the ball to O’Neal for a slaaaaammmm dunk!’ Especially because Kobi Simmons was named after O’Neals former Lakers teammate Kobe Bryant.

There are Arizona ties for O’Neal. Shareef played alongside Arizona signee Ira Lee last season after he transferred from Sierra Canyon HS. Also, Shareef plays for Gary Franklin’s Cal Supreme AAU team, if that sounds familiar, it is also Arizona target Brandon Williams and signee D’Andre Ayton‘s club team. Here is some footage of Shareef (slam dunk at 8:52), his teammate Arizona signee Ira Lee (No. 11 red) and Mater Dei target Bol Bol (in white):

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At Zona Zealots, we cannot wait to hear what school Shareef chooses, and hopefully, Arizona’s run through the Pac-12 is helping him see what Miller and Tucson have to offer. There is no doubt; Wildcat Nation would fully embrace the O’Neal family and their future NBA star Shareef! Bear Down Shareef!