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.
But most importantly, he walked across the stage to receive another degree from LSU, this time it was a Masters of Liberal Arts.
His degree was from the College of Humanities & Social Sciences.
O’Neal played at LSU arriving for the 1989-90 season and playing three years before leaving for the NBA Draft where he was the No. 1 pick of the Orlando Magic in the 1992 NBA Draft. He finished his career at LSU and remains to this day as the No. 5 all-time scorer at the school (1,941 points) and No. 2 in rebounds (1,217). He was the AP Player of the Year in 1991.
He graduated from LSU in December 2000 and the next night at an LSU Basketball game, he became at that time the fourth player in LSU history to have his number retired. The Shaq statue was dedicated in what became the basketball statue plaza in September 2011.
He 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 iconic pregame and postgame shows and has several extremely successful business enterprises that he is involved in.
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