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First it was a new basketball facility at Sacramento State University — "The Well," a sparkling 3,200-seat venue to replace the dilapidated 1,000-seat "Nest." Then, last month, 14-year NBA veteran Mike Bibby arrived to coach the men's team. On Monday, Bibby's good friend, Shaquille O'Neal was announced as the new unpaid General Manager of the program, a team with two winning seasons since moving to the Division I level in 1991.
On Tuesday, as first reported by ESPN's Shams Charania, former California prep phenom Mikey Williams transferred from the University of Central Florida to be Bibby's second high-profile recruit. The other is O'Neal's son Shaqir O'Neal, who transferred after his junior season at Florida A&M. What in Hornet Nation is going on? Stingers are way up.
How could one of the weakest Division I program in America suddenly be drawing so much interest? Doesn't matter, says San Ramon Valley-Danville High school coach Brian Botteen, whose players might have never considered glancing Northeast before the last couple of days. But they most certainly will now. Botteen's Wolves won a state title in 2015 and won 26, 29 and 24 games the last three years, reaching the state D1 championship game in 2024 and one game short of it in 2025.
Danville is located approximately 80 miles to Sacramento State and is a prime recruiting zone for the Hornets. "What a great selling point and opportunity to change the culture than to bring in names like that with such a vast professional basketball backgrounds," Botteen said. "(Alameda Junior College) recently brought in Gary Payton and when a name like that drops, there's immediate interest.
" Mitty-San Jose coach Tim Kennedy agrees. He coached Aaron Gordon and the Monarchs to two straight state Division 2 titles and an Open Division runner-up in 2013. Mitty and San Ramon Valley are considered two of the top program in the San Francisco Bay Area, though most of their top players, Gordon not included, are mid-major recruits or lower.
Sacramento State is certainly a more viable choice. "I think anytime you have Shaqu's name on it you will definitely get credibility right away," Kennedy said. "And with new facilities and new coach will add to the allure for Bay Area kids.
" It attracted well beyond the Bay Area. Williams was well known around AAU circles before even entering high school. He played along side Bronny James as a youth and was ranked the No.
1 player in the Class of 2023 by Naismith National Youth All-American Report. He backed that up in his first varsity basketball game playing for San Ysidro High School in San Diego, going for 46 points. Williams broke the bank with a 77-point explosion later that season, topping a San Diego Section single-game mark, along with breaking a California state freshman record.
He averaged just under 30 points per game to go along with 4.9 assists and 6.7 rebounds per game, earning National Player of the Year honors by MaxPreps.
The 6-3 guard moved to North Carolina his sophomore and junior seasons in high school, returned to San Ysidro his senior season and averaged 23.8 points and 9.2 assists per game.
Recruited by Penny Hardaway, he attended Memphis, but never played due to a criminal investigation in California. He transferred to UCF in Jan. 2024 and averaged 5.
1 points and 14.0 minutes per game last season, but announced on Instagram Tuesday that he would be attending Sacramento State. He told Dushawn London of CBS Sports: "It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be part of a program that includes a legend like Shaquille O'Neal and to play under the guidance of Coach Bibby.
I'm excited to lock in and represent Sacramento State at the highest level." Before Bibby even joined the staff the Hornet had secured the region's top player, Rocklin 6-foot-9, 230-pound senior forward Mark Lavrenov, the Sacramento Bee's Player of the Year. Lavrenov was also a High School On S I first-team All-California selection after averaging 23.
4 points and 12.2 rebounds per game for the Sac-Joaquin Section Division 2 champions. Lavrenov told the Sacramento Bee at the time of Bibby's hiring on March 25th: “Just knowing his past accolades, playing experience and his knowledge for the game, that’s super exciting to be in a position to be able to learn and be coached by a guy like that,” Bibby is very well known in the region, having played 6.
5 seasons with the Sacramento Kings, about half his NBA career. He coached his son Michael Jr. at the AAU and high school level, the latter as an assistant then head coach at his alma mater Shadow Mountain in Phoenix, Ariz, where he helped the team to five state championships.
He later coached for 10 games at Hillcrest Prep in Phoenix in 2019. “Mike will recruit talented student-athletes and develop a team culture that embodies success both on and off the court,” Sacramento State's Athletic Director Mark Orr said in a statement at the time of his hiring. “I am convinced that Mike will pour every ounce of his energy into Sacramento State and engage the entire Sacramento region.
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