Report: Shaquille O'Neal accepting Sacramento State general manager role

Shaquille O’Neal has reportedly accepted the general manager role for Sacramento State’s men’s basketball team, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. This will be a voluntary role for O’Neal, according to Charania.

His son, Shaqir O’Neal, plays for Hornets under head coach Mike Bibby. Shaqir committed to the Hornets in March, two days after entering the transfer portal after playing one season for Florida A&M. He began his career at Texas Southern, where he he played two seasons.

Bibby was hired on March 24. However, Bibby has coaching experience in the past but only at the high school level. Now, he’s gets the opportunity with a Division I school, and is bringing in one of the most recognizable names in basketball to help lead his program. As of this report, it has yet to be revealed what O’Neal’s day-to-day responsibilities will look like.

The Hornets have not made an NCAA Tournament appearance at D-I and recently saw head coach David Patrick step down to become the associate head coach at LSU under Matt McMahon. Michael Czepil took over as the interim head coach for the 2024-25 season, and Sacramento State went 7-25 before Bibby was brought aboard as the full-time head coach.

Sacramento State has been at the forefront of the college athletics world in recent months. On the football side of things, they went a similar route when picking their head coach, longtime NFL quarterback Michael Vick. Moreover, they’re attempting to make the move from the FCS level, to FBS.

The project to push Sacramento State into the Division I level really began in September before Vick was even hired. The football program announced plans for a new multi-use football stadium, and the NIL efforts also saw a surge.

Local business, community leaders and a local tribe gathered together to raise $35 million in NIL funds, the SAC12 committee announced at the time. The organization later announced it surpassed its $50 million goal, however, reports said that figure is contingent on a bid to the Pac-12 or another FBS conference.

“The $35 million we have secured over the last 24 hours demonstrates the civic and business commitment of all of those in the greater Sacramento region to this effort, an effort we know will pay great dividends to the university’s athletes and students, as well as Hornet fans and businesses across Sacramento,” SAC12 co-chair Josh Wood said in 2024. “We are thrilled to announce this tremendous first step and will continue to work to reach our stated goal of $50 million.”

On3’s Nick Schultz contributed to this report.