By Fred J. Demarest
Gameday Editor
“The aim of every artist is to arrest motion, which is life, by artificial means and hold it fixed so that a hundred years later, when a stranger looks at it, it moves again since it is life. Since man is mortal, the only immortality possible for him is to leave something behind him that is immortal…” — William Faulkner
Every so often an athlete comes along and transcends the sporting world to the point that the very mention of their first name becomes synonymous with their sport. Synonymous with greatness.
Magic. Michael. Tiger. Sammy and Mark. In LSU’s case, there will always be Shaq.
When former LSU head coach Dale Brown stumbled upon a 13-year-old man-child named Shaquille O’Neal while giving a basketball clinic at a military base in West Germany, who could have possibly imagined what he would have discovered.
Today, he is in no uncertain terms, not only the best player in the NBA, but the best player in the world. Last season he was the regular season MVP of the NBA, the All-Star Game MVP and the Finals MVP. But ask anyone who knows him and they’ll tell you, deep down, he is still just Shaquille O’Neal, the same person who first walked onto LSU’s campus as a freshman in the fall of 1989.
Tonight, Shaq’s accomplishments at LSU come full circle as his jersey will be raised to the top of the Assembly Center rafters, immortalized with LSU greats Bob Pettit and Pete Maravich.
33 forever.
He came to Baton Rouge at the age of 17, a boy in a man’s body, and left with a legacy matched by few. At a University rich in basketball tradition, he wrote his own chapter.
His first and middle names, Shaquille Rashaun, mean “Little Warrior” in Islam. Once he set foot on the LSU campus, it took little time to show that there was almost nothing “little” about him. The glimpses were there his freshman season. On Jan. 2, 1990, he scored 16 points, had 19 rebounds and 10 blocked shots as the Tigers defeated Texas, 124-113, behind 51 points from Chris Jackson.
It was during his sophomore season, however, that he truly came to the national forefront. With Jackson’s departure to the NBA after only two seasons, LSU turned to the sophomore center. On Dec. 8, 1990, second-ranked Arizona came to the PMAC to face the Tigers in a game that will long be remembered in Baton Rouge. All O’Neal did was drop in 29 points, collect 14 rebounds and block six shots as the PMAC crowd and Dick Vitale, on hand to call the game, watched in awe as the Tigers upset the Wildcats, 92-82.
A star was born.
He went on to help the Tigers to the regular season SEC title his sophomore year and was named National Player of the Year after averaging 27.6 points and 14.7 rebounds per game, while blocking 140 shots.
After his junior season, Brown advised him to turn pro after it became apparent that the easiest way to stop him was to hack him. The Orlando Magic quickly made him the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft. He guided the Magic to the 1995 NBA finals before eventually ending up with the Los Angeles Lakers just over a year later where, as they say, the rest is history.
He is the best basketball player in the world. He is rich beyond his wildest dreams. He is almost larger than life. But through it all, he has remained humble, remained loyal to those he was close to before he ever earned his first NBA dime. Watch him with a child and you’ll see that there isn’t an ounce of pretense in his body. He has kept his friendships within the LSU community and he kept his promise to graduate.
When Dale Brown coached his final home game in 1997, he got a surprise visit from the Lakers’ center. He addressed the team before the game, reminding them what they were playing for — LSU — a place that always remained close to his heart and a place that would remain special to him forever. Now it is his legacy at LSU that will be honored forever.
Forever remembered. Forever a Tiger.
A Career To Remember
Here is a list of some of Shaquille O’Neal’s accomplisments while at LSU:
- Two-time consensus Southeastern Conference Player of the Year and first team All-America, 1991-1992.
- Most Valuable Player on SEC Coaches Defensive Team, 1991-1992.
- National Player of the Year as chosen by the Associated Press (Rupp Award), United Press International, L. A. Gear and Sports Illustrated, 1991.
- Winner of the Tanqueray World Amateur Athlete of the Year Award, 1991.
- Southeastern Conference Athlete of the Year, 1991-1992.
- National Player of the Year as chosen by L. A. Gear, 1992 and runnerup for the Naismith Award and the John Wooden Award, 1992.
- Set SEC record for most blocks in a season three consecutive years (115-1990, 140-1991, 157-1992).
- Set SEC record for career blocks with 412.
- Blocked five or more shots in a game 45 times in 90 career games.
- Set SEC single game record with 12 blocks against Loyola Marymount in Feb.,1990.
- Blocked 11 shots against Brigham Young in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, setting a tournament standard for a single game, 1992.
- Averaged a national sophomore record 5.0 blocked shots a game, 1991.
- National leader in blocked shots (5.2 average), 1992.
- National leader in rebounding (14.7 average), 1991.
- Second nationally in rebounding (14.0 average), 1992.
- First player to lead the Southeastern Conference in scoring, rebounding, field goal percentage and blocked shots in the same season, 1991.
- Led SEC in rebounding, field goal percentage, blocked shots and second in scoring, 1992.
- First player to lead the SEC in rebounding three straight seasons since Charles Barkley of Auburn, 1982-84.
- Finished with 1,217 rebounds, seventh all-time in the Southeastern Conference, second all-time at LSU.
- Finished with 1,941 points, fourth all-time at LSU behind only Pete Maravich (3,667-1967-70), Durand Macklin (2,080-1976-78; 79-81) and Howard Carter (1,942-1979-83).
- Career field goal percentage of 61.0 percent is second all-time at LSU and in the SEC (minimum 1,000 attempts).
- Had six career triple-doubles (points, rebounds and blocks in same game).
- Had 73 double-point, double-rebound games in his career.
- Was the third LSU player (Pete Maravich and Chris Jackson the others) to have at least two 700-plus point seasons at LSU.
- Was the first LSU player to record back-to-back 400-plus rebound seasons.