Four-star Class of 2018 power forward Shareef O'Neal, the son of Hall of Fame center Shaquille O'Neal, has opened up his recruitment and backed away from Arizona after signing with the Wildcats in November.
I wanted to send a personal thank you to coach miller , coach romar , coach phelps , and all the Arizona staff and fans for all the support they’ve shown my family and I.
— Shareef O’Neal (@SSJreef) February 24, 2018
"At this time I am opening up my recruitment due to the current events with the U of A 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."
His announcement came just after the news broke that Wildcats coach Sean Miller would not be on the bench for Saturday's game vs. Oregon in response to an explosive ESPN.com report that Miller was caught on FBI wiretaps discussing a $100,000 payment to land the commitment of a five-star recruit.
O'Neal is ranked as the No. 33 overall prospect in the 2018 class, and the No. 9 player at his position according to the 247Sports composite rankings. He originally committed to the Wildcats over UCLA, LSU and Southern California, among others.
With O'Neal no longer in the fold for Arizona, its class now consists of just one commitment in four-star point guard Brandon Williams.
