SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — Shaq Diesel is in the house.
Shaquille O’Neal turned up at the Hoophall Classic on Saturday night to watch his son, 6-foot-10 junior forward Shareef O’Neal, play for Crossroads School (CA) against Cambridge Rindge and Latin.
6-foot-10 Shareef O’Neal. pic.twitter.com/8p0uR9saxN
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) January 14, 2017
Shareef O’Neal reportedly likes Kentucky, Michigan State and Duke. “My dad actually wants me to lean towards Kentucky,” the younger O’Neal told Sean Scherer of 247Sports, via Lex18.com.
Shaq and Kentucky coach John Calipari are friends, his son told the site.
“[Shaq] likes Coach Cal,” one high-major D-1 assistant from another school said.
O’Neal is ranked as the No. 10 power forward and No. 25 overall player in the Class of 2018 by 247Sports.
“He’s long and athletic and has a chance to be good,” the assistant coach said. “He has to compete against high-level talent to take the next steps to being really good.”