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There was some bombshell news broken by Shams Charania of ESPN that reported Shaquille O'Neal is set to take over as the general manager of Sacramento State 's basketball program. This follows the seemingly growing trend of professional athletes taking on these types of roles, starting with Stephen Curry becoming the first active player to step into an administrative role by becoming the assistant general manager of Davidson' s basketball program, followed by Trae Young doing the same at Oklahoma and NFL edge rusher Maxx Crosby becoming the assistant general manager for the Eastern Michigan football program. However, O'Neal is set to take on the full GM role with Sacramento State.
Charania reported that this will be a voluntary role for the basketball legend, and it stems from his son, Shaqir O'Neal, being on the team. Recently, Sacramento State named former NBA star Mike Bibby as its next head coach, a hire that brought more attention to one of the school's athletic programs. The Hornets previously tried to hire football legend Michael Vick to become the head coach of their football program, but he ultimately turned down the job and accepted the gig at Norfolk State.
But the move to bring on O'Neal in this capacity is another step in the saga of this university to push athletics front and center of its identity, with local businesses, community leaders and others connected to Sacramento State reportedly raising $35 million in NIL funds that could be boosted up to $50 million if they secure a Pac-12 bid or one from another FBS conference on the football side of things. That type of NIL money will also have an impact on the basketball program, and with O'Neal jumping on board in a general manager capacity, there could also be tons of business ventures that come out of this to entice prospects around the country to join the Hornets, whether they are high school recruits or current college athletes in the transfer portal. Sacramento State understands how their university can be boosted by athletics.
While they are searching for a way to get their football program into the land of coveted television deals to bolster all their other athletic programs, what O'Neal and Bibby will be focused on is building a basketball program that has never made the NCAA Tournament since they made the leap to Division I. The day-to-day job responsibilities of O'Neal have not been revealed, so it will be interesting to see what exactly that entails when he officially takes over as general manager. Sacramento State is taking a swing, and NIL could play a major role in this university going to the next level in athletics.
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