Shareef O'Neal - Shaq's Son - Will Miss His Freshman Season Because of Emergency Heart Surgery

CBS – UCLA freshman Shareef O’Neal, the son of Basketball Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal, will miss the 2018-19 season because of a recently discovered heart problem. UCLA put out the following statement with regard to his health on Friday:

“Freshman Shareef O’Neal will be sidelined for the 2018-19 season (medical). He will remain enrolled in class and on the men’s basketball team during this redshirt year. The UCLA men’s basketball program completely supports Shareef and his family as he gets this issue resolved.”

According to TMZ Sports, O’Neal underwent a routine checkup recently when UCLA’s medical staff found a medical issue related to his heart. He’s expected to undergo surgery to correct the issue.

It’s always scary when you hear that a random routine checkup shows a life-threatening problem. For Shaq’s son, Shareef O’Neal that happened right before he was about to start his career at UCLA.

Luckily the heart surgery is expected to only keep him out for this year and not completely end his career. He plans to stay in school during rehab and just use a redshirt year.

As for basketball, this is an important loss for UCLA. The Bruins are bringing in a loaded recruiting class and O’Neal is a top-40 guy. He was expected to likely come off the bench and be a guy to protect the rim and finish at the rim offensively.

O’Neal originally committed to Arizona and then following ESPN’s report of Sean Miller laying Deandre Ayton decoded to decommit and join UCLA a few days later. Obviously we know all about that ESPN report.

Here’s what O’Neal had to say: