Texas Southern basketball star Shaqir O'Neal has a huge social media following totaling 4.6 million across all social media platforms, which has boosted his NIL valuation massively alongside having the right last name.
The $812,000 NIL-valued shooting guard has a massive NIL portfolio, ranking him at No. 6 among college basketball players and No. 33 in On3's NIL 100 list due to partnerships with brands like BoohooMan and Capital One.
He recently made his modeling debut as he joined hands with AZVA Studios wearing the Rest Stop Hoodie in what has become an ever-expanding portfolio of NIL deals.
The career of Shaqir O'Neal
Shaqir O'Neal began his career at Crossroads High School in Santa Monica, California before finishing at Union Grove in McDonough where he was ranked as the No. 285 prospect in the class of 2021 according to 247Sports.
He had offers from San Diego State, Northeastern and Georgia Tech before finally committing to Texas Southern, an HBCU institution.
The Tigers coach, Johnny Jones was also an assistant coach at LSU when Shaqir's father, Shaquille O'Neal played for the Tigers swaying the player's commitment.
The shooting guard redshirted his first season at Texas Southern and only played his first official game in 2022. He appeared in 20 of the Tigers' 34 games that season averaging 7 minutes.
During the most recent Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) media days, Johnny Jones, the Texas Southern coach was effusive in his praise of the outgoing Shaqir O'Neal and his growth over the last two years in college.
“One of the new guys we're really happy and excited about,” said Jones, “and who's done a really good job during the offseason is Shaqir O'Neal. I think people hadn't had an opportunity to see his offseason workouts. I think he's done a tremendous job of transitioning through the last two years, and we're looking forward to him making an impact with us and for us as well.”
“Because we had guys down for so many games, these guys got a lot of valuable experience, and it showed. We certainly needed them during conference tournament time, and the depth showed on our team because those guys had to get in and play, and they played some really important roles.”
While he seems to be getting a handle on his college basketball career, Shaqir O'Neal has shown the same entrepreneurial spirit his famous father is renowned for by branching into modeling.
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