“She works out with my sons and I think it’s fair to say, once day, if she continues, Me’Arah will be the best women’s basketball player ever,” Shaquille O’Neal said in 2016, during his Hall of Fame speech. Well, cut to October 2024, she played her debut college game with the Florida Gators and faced off against Flagler College at the Exactech Arena on Wednesday night in an exhibition game. It ended with Flagler suffering a blowout 85-46 loss.

The Gators started off dominant, securing a 44-22 lead by halftime. Gators senior, Ra Shaya Kyle, was the star of the game after finishing with 21 points. But the freshman class was just as impressive. Me’Arah O’Neal was naturally the one to watch out for. She recorded 5 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 blocks. The entire freshman lineup collectively made 24 points for the team and each recorded at least two rebounds.

After this game, Meezy described her strengths lie in being “unique and versatile”. It’s worth noting she’s completely different from her dad, a dominant center with a lower post presence. Me’Arah is a wing who modeled her game after her brother, Shareef, now a Sacramento Kings player.

As reported by Alligator, after the win, Me’Arah stated, “I mean, it’s only going to progress. I got three more years left, I just played my first game, and I got however many games left. It’s only going to progress.”

In fact, all eyes were on freshman guard Liv McGill and freshman wing, Me’Arah O’Neal. This pair of McDonald’s All-Americans were the highest-rated recruits in program history. No doubt they have brought some faith and hope to the team that has struggled in recent years.

This exhibition game won’t show in their regular season record. That begins at home, in the O’Dome on November 4, when the Gators play against FAU. It, however, sets the tone for a revamped Florida squad. Further, Shaquille O’Neal has repeatedly said he doesn’t follow college basketball even though he has three kids who played in the NCAA before Meezy. He is also not placing too much importance on his son’s new achievement.

What is the new achievement? Well, Shareef O’Neal went undrafted in 2022 and spent a year in the G-League. But he was MIA on the court in 2023. He recently revealed he was about to head to Australia to go pro, but Shaq stopped him. O’Neal wanted his son to help him rebrand and revitalize Reebok. After all, Shaq is the president of Reebok basketball.

How Shareef O’Neal worked his way back in…

While at Reebok, Shareef also worked out and made his way back into the NBA. He signed a one-year deal worth $1.1 million with the Kings this month. While Shaq is probably happy for him, he said on Unapologetically Angel that he’s prouder when people praise Shareef’s nature.

His stance about his kids’ success is putting them on autopilot. “When I watch my kids play, they don’t play well. I make a lot of faces. So, the certain faces I make probably seem like I’m me. They don’t play well around me. They are 18 now and they’re grown. They know, as a father, if they need me, I’ll always be there. But I just let them live that life,” he said on the podcast.

“You see how you said Shareef signed with the Kings, that’s cool, but I get more, ‘Hey man, I met Shareef, he’s a fine young man. Man, Shareef over here working in Reebok and he’s helping us out, he’s the bat…’ like that’s what it’s all about to me.”

All that being said, the NBA legend will support his kids when they need him. For instance, Shaq did go to Meezy’s senior night in high school. Shareef was hinting at a comeback then with his on-court updates. Shaq’s youngest child, ranked no.33 on the ESPNW’s top 100, had committed to Florida by then.

Meezy and Liv McGill are two of the highest-rated recruits in program history. With star recruits, the Gators are hoping to go farther than 11th place in the SEC this season. Shaq won’t watch it perhaps, but his kids seem to know what they are doing. What do you think?