Shareef O'Neal - Wikipedia

Starting in his freshman season, O'Neal played basketball for Windward School in Los Angeles at the forward position.[2] His highlight videos immediately helped him gain popularity on the Internet and appeared in The Washington Post.[3][4] However, he received limited playing time because the team's six seniors earned the most minutes.[5] Head coach Steve Smith viewed O'Neal's first season with Windward as a "learning year" and expected him to assume a larger role in the following season.[5] At the end of the season, he was averaging 3.7 points and 2.9 rebounds per game.[6] In May 2015, O'Neal received a scholarship offer from USC, his first from an NCAA Division I program.[7] In the following months, he had additional offers from Baylor, LSU, UCLA, and Kansas State.[8]

O'Neal remained with Windward as a sophomore and saw significant improvement. In October 2015, at a tournament in Fairfax High School that featured many top high school teams in the nation, O'Neal scored 23 points in a loss to Bishop Alemany.[9] O'Neal, in December, drew attention from scouts at the MaxPreps Holiday Classic despite his team's struggles.[10] He became known as a versatile swingman with ball-handling, shooting, and defending skills.[11]

On June 29, 2016, the Los Angeles Times announced that O'Neal would transfer to Crossroads School in Santa Monica.[12][13] He joined the team expected to take a leading role with top high school recruit Ira Lee.[14] On January 6, 2017, O'Neal scored 15 points in a 54–50 win over Brentwood.[14] In a 44–80 loss to Mater Dei on February 17, he scored 20 points in a matchup with Bol Bol, son of former NBA player Manute Bol.[15]

Recruiting

edit
 
O'Neal with Crossroads School in 2017

In April 2017, O'Neal committed to play college basketball for Arizona.[16] On February 24, 2018, he decommitted from Arizona immediately following allegations by ESPN that FBI wiretaps had intercepted phone conversations between Arizona coach Sean Miller and an agent discussing paying $100,000 to ensure star player Deandre Ayton signed with Arizona. Because he signed a nonbinding financial aid agreement with Arizona instead of a formal letter of intent, he did not require a release from Arizona to seek out a new school.[17] O'Neal verbally committed to UCLA on February 27,[18] but he did not sign a National Letter of Intent during the signing period that ended on May 16.[19] He signed with the Bruins in August.[20]

College recruiting information
Name Hometown School Height Weight Commit date
Shareef O'Neal PF Los Angeles, CA Crossroads School (CA) 6 ft 9.5 in (2.07 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Feb 27, 2018 
Recruit ratings: Rivals:     247Sports:     ESPN:     (89)
Overall recruit ranking:    Rivals: 40    247Sports: 52    ESPN: 32
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

  • "UCLA 2018 Basketball Commitments". Rivals. Retrieved August 26, 2018.
  • "2018 UCLA Bruins Recruiting Class". ESPN. Retrieved August 26, 2018.
  • "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals. Retrieved August 26, 2018.

Tag » How Tall Is Shareef O'neal