2024 center Me’Arah O’Neal picks up offer from UCLA women’s basketball

Shaquille O'Neal’s daughter has now received two scholarship offers from Division I programs

The Bruins’ 2024 recruiting trail has moved towards a storied basketball family with another top prospect coming down the pipeline.

Me’Arah O’Neal is now the second of four O’Neal children to pick up an offer from the Bruins. The rising sophomore at Crossroads School in Santa Monica (CA) received an offer from UCLA women’s basketball Monday. O’Neal’s brother Shareef O’Neal went to UCLA for a season and a half before transferring out of the men’s basketball program in favor of LSU in Jan. 2020. She is also the daughter of Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer and former Los Angeles Laker Shaquille O’Neal.

During her freshman year at Crossroads, O’Neal started all 24 games, averaging 5.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 2.5 blocks per game.

In ESPN’s rankings for the 2024 women’s basketball recruiting class, O’Neal is currently rated as a three-star post player with a 90 overall grade. 

UCLA will presumably face steep competition from LSU for the 6-foot-3 center’s commitment. Although O’Neal’s only other offer at the moment is from Virginia, two of her siblings have already competed for the Tigers.

Shareef O’Neal plays for the men’s basketball team and Amirah O’Neal played one year with the women’s basketball team before transferring to Texas Southern on July 29. Not to mention Shaquille O’Neal’s history with LSU, where he won National Player of the Year in 1991 and earned himself a statue in front of the Pete Maravich Assembly Center – the home of both the men and women’s basketball teams.

On the Instagram post Me’Arah O’Neal made regarding the offer, a plethora of former and current Bruins left comments, with five-star 2023 commit Jada Williams having her comment supporting the announcement pinned above guard Charisma Osborne, Jordin Canada and Dylan Andrews' congratulatory words.

Should O’Neal commit to UCLA, she would be the first commitment for their 2024 recruiting class.

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