The O’Neal family was treated to some good news on Monday night after Shareef O’Neal was declared eligible for the 2022 NBA Draft. The son of Hall-of-Famer Shaquille O’Neal, Shareef was mistakenly included in a list of 112 prospects who had withdrawn from the draft and there were doubts about whether he would be cleared for participation.
The younger O’Neal was a highly touted prospect out of High School and he was signed up by UCLA to start his college career. Unfortunately for Shareef, he was diagnosed with a heart condition soon after and had to miss the entire 2018-19 season.
After limited playing time and some injuries the following year, he transferred to LSU where his father played collegiate basketball but injury problems meant he only played 24 games over his two seasons there. It seemed like more rocky roads were ahead for Shareef after that mistake was made with regard to the draft but Shams Charania stated that he is now eligible to be selected.
LSU junior Shareef O'Neal – son of Hall of Famer Shaquille O'Neal – is now eligible to be selected in the 2022 NBA draft, the league informed teams. A prior list of withdrawals mistakenly included O'Neal. The 6-foot-10 prospect stays in Draft and has upcoming team workouts.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 6, 2022
“LSU junior Shareef O’Neal – son of Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal – is now eligible to be selected in the 2022 NBA draft, the league informed teams. A prior list of withdrawals mistakenly included O’Neal. The 6-foot-10 prospect stays in Draft and has upcoming team workouts.”
Shaq had high praise for his son’s basketball ability on his podcast, as he claimed Shareef is Giannis with a jump shot, but that people just didn’t know it yet. While that is probably just a father hyping up his son, we hope Shareef has success in the NBA.
It isn’t clear yet if he will be drafted after all his issues during his college career but he will now get an opportunity to display his skills at team workouts prior to the draft. Whatever happens the rest of the way, we can be sure that Shareef will have the full backing of his father as he attempts to forge his own path in his basketball career.
