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UCLA Basketball: 4-star PF Shareef O’Neal has officially joined the Bruins

By Mike Regalado

LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 19: Head coach Steve Alford of the UCLA Bruins applauds during a timeout in the game against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Pauley Pavilion on January 19, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 19: Head coach Steve Alford of the UCLA Bruins applauds during a timeout in the game against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Pauley Pavilion on January 19, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) /
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The UCLA basketball team officially announced on Monday that 4-star power forward, Shareef O’Neal, son of the legendary Shaquille O’Neal, has joined the Bruins and will be eligible to play this fall.

BOOM! The UCLA basketball team gave the Bruin fans base some fantastic news this morning as Shareef O’Neal has now officially joined the team. After months of trying to become eligible with the university due to academic reasons, the 4-star power forward who committed to UCLA back in February will be able to participate with the team.

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O’Neal was originally committed to Arizona, but decided to look elsewhere after a scandal hit the Wildcats amid reports that members of coach Sean Miller’s staff paid players. What is Arizona’s loss is UCLA’s gain, though it took its time.

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Back in April, UCLA announced their 2018 recruiting class which included 5-star center Moses Brown, 4-star PG Tiger Campbell, SG Jules Bernard, SG David Singleton III and 3-star C Kenny Nwuba. Though O’Neal committed, there was no word about him signing his national letter of intent.

Things were looking dire, especially at the beginning of the summer when the UCLA basketball team unveiled their latest roster, which had all five of the freshmen listed, but not O’Neal.

Well all that is in the past as he is now officially a Bruin.

So what is UCLA getting from the famed son of Shaq? Though he might not have the size of his gargantuan father, Shareef does possess a lot of top teir qualities that a low post threat should have. When he is under the rim, he tends to go up with authority, often dunking the ball. But he can also score from mid-range as he has developed a serviceable turnaround jumper.

He will also help on the defensive side as he is no stranger to blocking shots and grabbing rebounds. Along with Brown, Nwuba, Cody Riley, Jalen Hill and Alex Olesinski, the Bruins will have a deep front court presence this coming season, something they have not had in quite sometime.

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Though the Bruins have been early favorites to win the Pac-12 Conference during the 2018-19 season, the addition of O’Neal could help make this projection a reality.

Welcome to Westwood, Shareef!