TIGER RAG NEWS SERVICES
BATON ROUGE – LSU basketball and NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal was at a graduation ceremony Saturday morning at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
He may have passed by his statue outside the building. He may have looked up at the banner honoring his jersey retirement at the school in Assembly Center rafters. Or he could gaze at the 1991 Southeastern Conference regular season championship banner up there, too. He led the nation in rebounding that season under coach Dale Brown with 14.7 a game and was seventh in scoring with a 27.6-point average as he won the Associated Press national Player of the Year.
But most importantly, O’Neal, age 54, walked across the stage to receive another degree from LSU, this time it was a Master’s of Liberal Arts from the College of Humanities & Social Sciences.
O’Neal played at LSU from the 1989-90 season through 1990-92 before leaving for the NBA Draft and becoming the No. 1 overall pick by the Orlando Magic in 1992. He finished his college career as the No. 5 all-time scorer (1,941 points) and No. 2 rebounder (1,217).
He graduated from LSU the first time in December of 2000. The next night at an LSU home basketball, he became the fourth player in LSU history to have his number retired. The Shaq statue in the back of the Assembly Center was dedicated in September 2011.
O’Neal went on to become a multiple NBA champion in his long and successful playing career. He continues a part of the game in his role on TNT/ESPN’s pregame and postgame shows and is involved in several successful business enterprises.
Be the first to comment