Here at the ShaqFu Radio blog, we talk a lot about Shaq’s family, and especially the big man’s mother, who Shaq credits for much of his upbringing and mindset through the years. A new story from our friends at BasketballNetwork.com sheds light on how Shaq was also influenced by his father.
If you’ve followed Shaq’s story at all, you know he had quite the unusual childhood and upbringing. As a child, he moved around a lot – around the world, in fact. That was due to the fact that his father, Philip Harrison, was in the military and was transferred to different bases around the world over the years.
Back in 1984, Shaq’s family was sent to the U.S. military base at Wildflecken, Germany. Harrison was stationed there for a few years before returning to the states. Soon after the family settled in, Shaq met up with Louisiana State University basketball coach Dale Brown.
In his book – “Shaq Uncut: My Story,” he says: “So one day the officers on the base are all excited because this basketball coach from Louisiana State University was coming to put on a clinic. His name was Dale Brown and I had never heard of him, but I liked him right away.”
Shaq was all of 13 years old at the time. After the clinic, he asked the coach about drills he could practice to improve his jumping skills. At the time, Shaq says he was a clumsy young man, and he had a terrible vertical jump.
Coach Brown did offer to help; “He said, “I’ll tell you what I’ll do, soldier. When I get back to Baton Rouge I’ll send you a weight-training program. How many years have you been in the service?” ‘I answered, “I’m not in the service. I’m only thirteen years old.” Dale Brown’s eyes opened real wide when he heard that. He said, “Well, son, I’d like to meet your parents.”
What an intro, right? Obviously, Brown saw this young kid and recognized that he might be finding a diamond in the rough. The coach did indeed O’Neal all kinds of weight lifting and vertical jump training regimens. Most importantly, Brown made sure to stay in touch with Shaq’s parents and promise them a very good education for their young son.
Still, his time in Germany wasn’t the easiest for young Shaq. In fact, he didn’t even make the high school basketball team!
Again, Shaq: “I tried out for the high school basketball team on the base in Germany. I got cut. At the time I was probably six foot eight, but they didn’t care. There was another guy named Dwayne Clark who was also about my size, and he was better than me. He could dunk, hit fadeaways, dribble. He was an upperclassman and he used to laugh at me. He’d do simple stuff like throw me an upfake, wait for me to jump, then go around me like I wasn’t even there. That guy abused me.”
O’Neal admitted that he was a bit lazy in his high school days. He didn’t bother trying out for the junior varsity team. Fortunately for Shaq, another mentor appeared and helped him get back into the game.
To see the full video, click here.
Shaq: “Shortly afterwards, this guy named Ford McMurtry, who was the assistant coach of the high school team, quit that job and started a team on the base. He said to me, “Come play for us.” Ford was nice to me. He raised my confidence level. He worked on my conditioning and my footwork. When I got discouraged with my clumsiness, he was patient.”
With good coaching and mentoring, Shaq’s progress skyrocketed. The family moved back to the states, and eventually O’Neal ended up at – where else? – LSU for a brilliant college career. The rest, as they say, is history!