Last month, it was announced that Mike Bibby, a staple part of the greatest era in Sacramento Kings history, landed his first Division I coaching gig with the Sacramento State Hornets.
If his first 30 days are any indication, Bibby is not just happy with being at the collegiate level. He wants to turn Sacramento State into a powerhouse for years to come.
Bibby is bringing some big names to Sacramento State
Bibby has already gotten a verbal commitment from the son of his former on-court nemesis. Shaqir O'Neal, the youngest of NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal's six children, decided to transfer to Sacramento State just one week after Bibby was named the new head coach.
Next season, the younger O'Neal will be a senior. Before coming to Sacramento State, O'Neal spent his first two years at Texas Southern before transferring to Florida A&M for his junior year.
For O'Neal, this past season was the first time that he was a consistent part of the rotation. In 29 games (17 starts), O'Neal averaged 6.7 PPG and 3.4 RPG on 58.1% true shooting. Florida A&M went 14-17 this year, ranking 317th of 352 Division I NCAA teams (per KenPom).
To this point, the younger O'Neal hasn't been a dominant college player. However, his joining the team clearly played a role in bringing his father on board, as it was recently announced that Shaquille would be joining the program as the school's basketball general manager.
If Bibby's name holds weight in the basketball world, Shaquille may as well have a Pain-level almighty gravitational pull.Stars from across the country will be drawn to Sacramento State if it means being intertwined with one of the ten greatest players to ever play the game.
This phenomenon is already coming to fruition, as, on Tuesday, it was announced that the team secured University of Central Florida transfer Mikey Williams on a 200,000 dollar NIL deal.
Williams didn't play a huge role at UCF during his freshman season. He appeared in just 18 games (five starts) and averaged 5.1 PPG, 1.9 RPG, and 0.7 APG on 46.2% true shooting. However, he was a four-star recruit coming out of high school, which is not exactly the type of player that Sacramento State was landing before Bibby and O'Neal came to town.
With all this said, it is highly unlikely that Sacramento State will be competing for a conference title next season. But still, they certainly look to be building something significant in Northern California.