Young Shareef O’Neal – son of our man Shaq – delivered quite a nice performance at a recent LSU game against Missouri. Good timing – dad was in the front row for the game.
Last Saturday night (as of this writing), the young O’Neal played about ten minutes of the first half, scoring six points pulling down four rebounds as the LSU Tigers beat Missouri 75-55. He finished the game with a total of nine points on a 4-of-night from the field, along with a season-high seven rebounds in a total of 19 minutes played.
As we said, dad was in the front row for the game, played in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. The building is easy to find on the LSU campus – it’s the one with the big statue of Shaquille O’Neal out front (grin).
Tigers coach Will Wade liked what he saw. “He played great,” Wade said, and then added, “We need to have Shaq here more often.”
Talking about Shareef’s play, Wade said, “He did a good job finishing around the rim. Had a couple threes go in and out. Did a nice job rebounding.”
The younger O’Neal also had a nice dunk with 3:04 left in the first half to give the Tigers a 28-20 lead and capped off a stretch in which he scored six straight LSU points.
Of course it’s now March, and college basketball fans know exactly what that means. Heading into the Madness, LSU could do well in the tournament. The Tigers finish out the regular season this week with games Wednesday at Arkansas and then the season finale Saturday at home vs. number 25 Alabama.
Talking about his teammate, LSU point guard Xavier Pinson said of Shareef, “He brings a lot to the table. He’s aggressive at the rim, rebounds, and he guards and blocks shots. So if we can get him a few minutes in there at any time, I feel like that’s good for us in any way.”
Still, Shareef O’Neal is in a mode of showing he can make a bigger contribution to the team and that he deserves more minutes. He played in only ten games this season due to a foot injury at the end of last season, which lead to his transfer from UCLA to LSU. In LA, he played 13 games as a redshirt freshman, averaging 2.2 points and 2.9 rebounds for the 2019-20 campaign.
This year with the Tigers, the 6-foot-10 Shareef – who plays forward – has been used only sporadically this season, averaging in 2.7 points and 1.8 rebounds while playing in just 10 of LSU’s 28 games, before the Saturday game against Missouri. He missed the first 12 still overcoming that injury. Even after his recovery, he didn’t play in LSU’s first three games, but he has played 11 of the Tigers’ last 14 games.
“A lot of times (his use) is based on matchups,” Wade said, “but it’s also based on preparation. “We really have three or four guys that can play those last couple rotation spots, and it’s based on preparation. I thought he prepared really well for this game. He knew the plays.”
Coach Wade likes what he sees from Shareef going forward into the postseason. “Hopefully this will give Shareef some confidence … and he can travel and play well for us at Arkansas,” Wade added. “Because if he can play well and hit some threes and do what he does, finishing around the rim and just rebound, he can give us a little jolt here coming down the stretch, for sure.”