Shaquille O’Neal is set to remain as part of Inside the NBA for the foreseeable future after coming to an agreement on an extension back in February. But on Monday, O’Neal took on another responsibility in basketball to further add to his workload next season.
On Monday, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that O’Neal agreed to become the new general manager of the Sacramento State men’s basketball program ahead of the 2025-26 college basketball season. In the move, he will work closely with another former NBA standout, Mike Bibby, who was just named the new head coach of the program earlier this month.
The biggest factor in this decision for O’Neal is likely the fact that his youngest son, Shaqir O’Neal, transferred into the program back in March after spending the first two years of his collegiate career at Texas Southern and this past season at Florida A&M.
This hire for Sacramento State continues the aggressive approach to athletics that President Luke Wood has taken, who, at least according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, nearly landed former NFL quarterback Michael Vick to be the new head coach of their football program.
It’s unclear whether O’Neal plans on staying at Sacramento State past his son’s tenure with the team. After all, it is an unpaid position that the five-time NBA Champion may simply be taking to help his son’s collegiate career.
Still, it is interesting to see that O’Neal is interested in the player development aspect of the sport, which perhaps could be a sign of things to come in O’Neal’s future should he want to step away from his role on TV.
Regardless, O’Neal and Bibby will have their hands full in changing the culture in Sacramento. This past season, Sacramento State finished as one of the worst Division 1 programs in all of college basketball, finishing just 7-25 on the year, with only three wins in the Big Sky Conference.
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