Shareef O’Neal has decided to play for UCLA next season after de-committing from Arizona a few days ago. He made the decision according to a report posted by ESPN’s Jeff Borzello.

The son of former NBA superstar Shaquille O’Neal, Shareef was discouraged by a recent report of an FBI wiretap that brought to light a conversation between Arizona head coach Sean Miller and Christian Dawkins where they discussed a $100,000 payment to secure the services of the highly-touted Deandre Ayton for the Wildcats.

Shortly thereafter, the young O’Neal responded to the report by withdrawing his commitment from the school, one that he had made last April.

“At this time I'm am opening up my recruitment due to the current events with the UofA Bball team,” O’Neal said. “I would like to thank all the coaches for recruiting me. At the time my family and I think it's in my best interest to look at other options to assure my play in the NCAA next year.”

After O’Neal’s departure from Arizona, the Wildcats are left with point guard Brandon Williams as the only player committed to play next year.

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Photo: Boban Marjanovic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Shaquille O’Neal

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O’Neal was ranked by ESPN as the 29th-best overall prospect in the 2018 class.

He will be joining a program that developed Hall-of-Famers such as Lew Alcindor (later known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), Bill Walton, Gail Goodrich, and Reggie Miller. The Bruins had one of the greatest runs in college basketball, winning 11 NCAA championships in 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, and 1995.

Of course, he'll have the chance to make his mark in the city that his father helped erect as the NBA's gold standard in the early 2000s.