Following stunning revelations by the FBI on Arizona and their recruitment of center DeAndre Ayton, Shareef O’Neal decommitted from the Wildcats and reopened his recruitment.
https://twitter.com/SSJreef/status/967499122461704192
Widely considered among the best forwards in the 2018 recruiting class, Shareef will be heading to UCLA according to Josh Gerson of 247 Sports. The switch in schools comes a mere three days after decomitting from Arizona. Here are more details on Shaq’s son:
O’Neal, the 33rd rated prospect in the 2018 247Sports Composite Rankings, is a 6-foot-9, 205-pound power forward from Santa Monica (Calif.) Crossroads. Sources informed 247Sports of the commitment. The son of NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal, Shareef originally committed to Arizona on April 19. Even after the FBI investigation into college basketball resulted in the firing of UA assistant Book Richardson, O’Neal remained committed to the school and signed non-binding scholarship papers in November.
However, after a Feb. 23 ESPN report alleging that Sean Miller discussed a $100,000 payment with runner Christian Dawkins to ensure freshman DeAndre Ayton signed with the Wildcats, O’Neal decommitted from the program. The commitment of O’Neal gives UCLA one of the top shooting post threats in the country. He has good size, long arms, is a plus athlete and can really shoot the ball. He’ll need to get stronger and improve his motor and defense, but all of the physical tools are there for O’Neal to be a successful player in Westwood.
Expect to see more recruits bail on teams that get caught up in the FBI’s reach.