Sacramento State has made a Shaquille O’Neal-sized splash.
O’Neal has agreed to become the men’s basketball program’s new general manager, Sacramento State officials confirmed to The Bee on Monday. ESPN reported O’Neal will be serving in a “voluntary” role.
O’Neal, a four-time NBA champion and one of the greatest centers of all time, will be overseeing a program that added his son, Shaqir, this spring after hiring former Sacramento King point guard Mike Bibby as head coach.
Name, image and likeness legislation was passed by multiple states in the summer of 2021 that overturned the NCAA’s previous stance preventing athletes from getting paid.
Since then, general manager positions, often filled by prominent sports figures, have been created to oversee spending on players, with examples including former quarterback Andrew Luck at Stanford, Stephen Curry as co-assistant general manager at Davidson, former Senior Bowl chief Jim Nagy at Oklahoma football and long-time NFL executive David Lombardi at UNC to work with Bill Belichick.
Sacramento State has long had eyes on making headlines in the sports scene. The school’s football program is hoping to upgrade from the FCS to the top-tier FBS thanks to an influx of NIL money — along with building a new, state-of-the-art football stadium.
The basketball program, now led by Bibby, is coming off a 7-25 season, last place in the Big Sky Conference under Michael Czepil following the resignation of David Patrick, who left last May to take an assistant coaching job at LSU.
O’Neal, 53, is currently working as a studio analyst for TNT following his widely successful 19-year playing career. He won three championships with the Los Angeles Lakers alongside Kobe Bryant from 1999 to 2002. He joined the Miami Heat and won a title playing with Dwayne Wade in 2005-06.
O’Neal owned a share of the Sacramento Kings beginning in 2013 before he announced the sale of his stake in 2022. O’Neal is reportedly worth roughly $500 million.
Bibby has said that he will attract big names, and he wasn’t kidding with the massive Shaq now on board. The Hornets have quite the challenge looming, trying to transform a program that has fielded just two winning basketball seasons since moving up to Division I in 1991. The Hornets will basketball team will be moving into the refurbished Well, near the football stadium, starting next season, a venue that will have 3,200 seats, up from the 1,000 that squeeze into the outdated Nest.
Bibby said in a statement provided by Sacramento State of O’Neal: “His presence, experience and leadership will elevate everything we’re building here, and that’s why I reached out to Shaq to get involved with the program.”
Said O’Neal in a statement: “I know what it takes to build a winning culture. Coach Bibby, President Wood and AD Mark Orr are putting something powerful together at Sacramento State, and I’m honored to be part of it. This is more than banners and trophies, preparing these student-athletes for life on and off the court.”
Orr, the school’s athletic director, said, “Shaq is a great role model for student-athletes both on an doff the court, and Sacramento State is excited to welcome him to the Hornet family. He is one of the most recognizable figures in the world, and his impact is immeasurable.”
And Wood in the same statement page: “This is an incredible moment for Sacramento State. Shaquille O’Neal is a difference maker in everything he touches, and we are thrilled to have him join our program. I’m especially grateful to Coach Bibby for making this extraordinary partnership possible. He is showing what we already know – that he will transform Sacramento State basketball and elevate the program to a top tier national program.”
This story was originally published April 28, 2025 at 5:43 PM.
