UCLA Basketball

Johnny Juzang is transferring to UCLA after spending the 2019-20 season at Kentucky. 

"It's a crazy time in the world right now, and with this current pandemic, I think being close to home, and close to family and friends is so important," Juzang wrote. "I'm also very happy to be home with family and friends for support and well-being reasons. I'm sending prayers to everyone affected by this situation."

I’m coming home ! #4sUp pic.twitter.com/IsqD8ViPTv

— Johnny Juzang (@JohnnyJuzang) April 9, 2020

The Studio City, California, native added that playing for the Bruins is a longstanding dream of his, and he plans to apply for immediate eligibility.

Juzang was the No. 9 small forward and No. 33 player in the 2019 recruiting class, per 247Sports' composite rankings.

He played only a minor role for the Wildcats as a freshman though. He averaged 2.9 points and 1.9 rebounds in 12.3 minutes per game.

What UCLA's 2020 recruiting class lacks in depth, it makes up for with talent. 

Daishen Nix, the No. 1 point guard, already signed his letter of intent, and Jaylen Clark, the No. 21 shooting guard, has committed to the school. Should Juzang be successful in his pursuit of a transfer waiver, head coach Mick Cronin will have the pieces necessary for an NCAA tournament run.

Leading scorer Chris Smith declared for the 2020 draft, but most of UCLA's key players from 2019-20 will otherwise return. Ten of the 15 players on the roster were freshmen or sophomores.

Cronin inherited a difficult job and was the chosen candidate in a coaching search that didn't exactly go according to plan. However, he's doing well in laying the groundwork to make UCLA nationally relevant again.

The UCLA Bruins athletic department is the latest in the sports world to respond to concerns about the coronavirus outbreak. 

Nathan Fenno of the Los Angeles Times noted the Pac-12 program will not allow fans to attend home athletic events until "at least" April 10. Notably, the school also announced it will suspend all in-person classes for students until the same date and will offer final exams remotely.

The announcement from the athletic department explained essential personnel who will attend the home events are limited to "student-athletes, coaches, team trainers and medical personnel, game officials, operational and administrative staff, and credentialed media members."

It also said it is working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health and will make any changes needed as the situation develops.

Both the men's and women's basketball teams have played their final home games of the season for the Bruins, and the spring football game is not scheduled until April 18. 

However, the baseball, softball, men's tennis and men's volleyball teams are among those with scheduled home games during the time period where fans will not be allowed to attend.

UCLA's announcement comes after the NCAA issued the following statement with the men's and women's basketball tournaments approaching: "The NCAA continues to assess how COVID-19 impacts the conduct of our tournaments and events. We are consulting with public health officials and our COVID-19 advisory panel, who are leading experts in epidemiology and public health, and will make decisions in the coming days."

The Ivy League also issued a statement saying it would cancel the men's and women's basketball tournaments and award the regular-season champions (Yale men and Princeton women) the automatic bids to the Big Dance.

The Big West and MAC both announced they will play their conference tournaments without fans present. 

According to CNN, more than 113,000 people have been infected by the virus that has led to more than 4,000 deaths globally.

UCLA forward Shareef O'Neal, the son of Hall of Fame center Shaquille O'Neal, announced his intention to transfer Wednesday.

https://twitter.com/SSJreef/status/1220170410844545025

"After meeting with Shareef on Tuesday, he told me that he plans to transfer. We fully support his decision and are wishing him all the best," UCLA coach Mike Cronin said in a statement.

O'Neal, a freshman, averaged 2.2 points and 2.9 rebounds in 13 games this season. He returned to the Bruins after missing the entire 2018-19 season after undergoing surgery for a preexisting heart condition.

A 4-star recruit out of Crossroads in Los Angeles, O'Neal was the No. 41 overall recruit and eighth-ranked power forward in the 2018 class.

It's unclear what schools O'Neal may consider in the aftermath of his transfer; Kentucky was considered a favorite before he made his decision. O'Neal originally committed to Arizona before flipping to UCLA. It's likely he'll look for a destination where he can get more playing time after failing to find a consistent role in Cronin's rotation.

Steve Alford was UCLA's coach when O'Neal committed but was fired in December 2018.

A lanky big with fluid movement and the ability to stretch the floor out to the mid range, O'Neal should not lack in suitors from Power Five conferences. He could look for a school that is likely to recruit his brother, 2021 guard Shaqir O'Neal.

UCLA received a massive boost to its 2020 recruiting class Tuesday with a commitment from 5-star point guard Daishen Nix.

Evan Daniels of 247Sports reported the playmaker's choice of the Bruins.

Nix is listed as the No. 14 overall recruit in next year's class and the top point guard in the group, according to 247Sports' composite rankings. He's also rated as the best prospect from Nevada.

The Trinity International School standout has developed into one of the nation's most well-rounded prospects over the past couple years. He's a multidimensional scorer who can also create off the dribble for teammates and sports a 6'5'', 205-pound frame that's helped accelerate his defensive growth.

Trinity International head coach Greg Lockridge told Sam Gordon of the Las Vegas Review-Journal the guard's rise has come as no surprise.

"I told everyone that would listen that he's the best point guard in the country. But he doesn't know it yet and hasn't developed into it yet," Lockridge said in April. "As time went on, he started to see it himself. Now his chest is out, his confidence is sky high and he's starting to come into his own."

Nix isn't a polished product yet—few at this stage of his development are—but all the tools are there for him to become a star at the collegiate level and beyond in the coming years.

Daishen Nix is a huge, huge get for Mick Cronin. Phenomenal size and truly elite passer. And answers questions about Cronin’s ability to recruit at a high level at UCLA (for now)

— Brian Rauf (@brauf33) August 20, 2019

Although there's little doubt the guard will be an instant impact player for the Bruins, exactly where he fits in the team's rotation won't become clear until the 2020-21 college basketball season gets a little closer and the depth chart for head coach Mick Cronin becomes more settled.

If he lives up to the hype at UCLA, it could become a one-and-done collegiate career for Nix as he could quickly turn his focus toward the NBA.

Shareef O'Neal is known as "Reef" to his close friends and family. But holler "Reef" on the street or at UCLA, where he is entering his second year, and he'll usually respond warmly with a gesture or smile.

As he arrives at the Drew League, the country's premier summer pro-am, George Preciado, the longtime in-game announcer, shows love. "Shoutout to Reef!" he says into the mic as Shareef walks toward the seating area at King Drew Magnet High School.

Shareef nods his head and grabs one of the available courtside seats. He is rocking black oval-framed glasses, a black fitted "LA" hat, an exclusive Campus Drip black hoodie and a pair of '90s retro pinstripe Orlando Magic shorts. A white-and-black banner hangs on the wall adjacent to the shot clock bearing the Drew's motto: "No Excuse, Just Produce."

He drove from Westwood, California, to watch his dear friend and top 2020 high school prospect, Josh "Gup" Christopher play. Shareef is friends with other basketball royalty: Bol Bol, Zaire Wade and Bronny James. Like LaMelo Ball, another close friend, Shareef has regularly appeared on reality shows—his mother, Shaunie, is the mastermind behind Basketball Wives and Shaunie's Home Court. Shareef also has his own personal photographer. TMZ trails him regularly around Los Angeles. He has a relationship with Quavo from Migos. 

The game quickly turns into a blowout. Shareef walks over by the rim to chat with friends, play one-on-one with kids. They can't get a bucket over his 7'0" wingspan. Nipsey Hussle's "Ocean Views" fills the gym. Shareef is in his element on this Saturday. He loves the Drew, loves Los Angeles deeply. "I got 'LA' tatted on me because it's such a big part of me," he says.

A month prior, he chose to make his public return to competitive basketball here, in front of the ones who have supported him and his family. It was a coronation and, considering what he had been through, a rebirth. In 2018, Shareef went from hoops royalty to 4-star recruit to not knowing if he would be able to continue playing basketball due to a rare heart condition.

Today, he wears a wide, boyish smile. Every few minutes he pauses to take a photo with a young fan then continues with his conversations. He doesn't take that kind of love for granted. "I know kids look up to me," he says. Looking at him now, it's hard to understand how much he has overcome. 

---

By the start of his senior season at Santa Monica's Crossroads School in fall 2017, Shareef had earned the title of No. 1 player in California, according to ESPN100. Nationally, he was only ranked 32nd overall and just ninth among his class at his position. He had played well the previous summer on the AAU circuit as a member of the Cal Supreme Elite. Scouts gravitated toward his length, skill and athleticism. His dunks were breathtaking, and he had a graceful shooting touch for his size that, with some work, had potential to make him a threat inside and out.

Shareef had been in the public eye and around high-profile names his entire life. He felt the weight of the expectations attached to him as the child of one of the greatest NBA players ever. "Negative energy been there since the day I was born," he says. "Right when people found out Shaq had a son they probably had all types of thoughts. Is he going to play basketball? Is he going to be as good as his dad?"

When the announcement came that he was not selected to the 2018 McDonald's All-American team, Shareef watched on TV, checking his Twitter feed, hoping to see his name pop up somewhere. When it didn't happen, it was as if a fire was lit in him. A day later, LeBron James dedicated a post to Shareef on Instagram:

"Nephew listen, Even though we all know you should have made that McDonalds game use it as motivation to prove not to those who didn't vote you in, not to those who is actually in the game but more importantly to yourself that u belong!"

At Crossroads' next game, Shareef dropped 30 points in a 76-64 win over Campbell Hall, Jrue Holiday's alma mater, much to the chagrin of a few trolling students who brought McDonald's Happy Meals as jokes. A few games later, he led a comeback versus rival Brentwood School by scoring 23. He kicked it up a notch in the playoffs, posting 25 in a road game.

As he displayed more and more promise on the court, Shareef was monitoring the developments of the FBI NCAA college bribery scandal that had made headlines the previous fall. The FBI report implicated University of Arizona assistant coach Emanuel "Book" Richardson and head coach Sean Miller. Shareef had committed to Arizona as a junior. "I was just hearing things. A lot of rumors were going on," he says. In February, he switched his commitment to UCLA, removing himself from a toxic situation that could impact his future. "I played it safe. I didn't know what was going to happen to the program. So I just came to my second choice, UCLA."

"Negative energy been there since the day I was born."
—Shareef O'Neal

Some Wildcat faithful took the news of the decommitment to heart. An online Wildcat fan group lashed out at Shareef online. "They were saying some wild stuff, like stuff you shouldn't say about your worst enemy," Shareef says. Shaunie recalls threats: "The things people were saying. Like, 'Next plane you get on, I hope it blows up,' and 'Don't come here. We'll tie you to the back of a truck.'"

Shareef tried to block it out as best he could. In March, he led Crossroads to its first state championship since 1997, when Baron Davis, another Bruin alum, delivered a D4 chip. Shareef earned an invitation to the Jordan Brand Classic shortly thereafter, a nice cap on his high school career.

All was well in his mind. Physically he was maturing—getting stronger, faster and more athletic. He felt primed to make a statement his freshman year. A few months later, after arriving on campus, Shareef was required to complete a routine, handwritten physical. As he worked his way through questions about his medical history, one in particular—a question about whether he had any heart issues—caught his attention.

Shareef called his mother, who then shared details of his heart history with the trainer. When Shaq played for the Miami Heat between 2004 and 2008, a doctor had detected a "little ablation" in Shareef's heart—supraventricular tachycardia, or SVT. Since then, he had been going to annual checkups with a cardiologist. But every year—from childhood through his teenage years—he was cleared. "I felt like I was taking all the steps to make sure that my kid was OK by getting him checked by a cardiologist," Shaunie says.

Several days later, the trainer decided to run some tests, including placing a heart monitor on his body for five days. Shareef, feeling that there was nothing wrong with him and that the heart monitor was unnecessary, wasn't happy.

---

On Sept. 24, 2018, a group of 15 UCLA doctors called Shareef and Shaunie into an office to deliver the results. Shaq joined via FaceTime. The doctors said Shareef had a heart abnormality called anomalous coronary artery, or ACA. The tests showed that whenever Shareef's heart had an abnormality, if it went over a certain number of beats per minute, it was being squeezed. As a result, the coronary arteries could not supply the necessary blood flow, oxygen and nutrients to the heart. At any moment, that could have led to a heart attack and possibly death. He would need open-heart surgery and a medical redshirt for his freshman year.

"You know, you could play ball a million times and be fine," Shareef recalls one doctor saying, "but that million-and-one could've been the time to take you out, or the million-and-seven could've been the time to take you out."

Shareef was consumed by his emotions. He broke down in tears.

"I kind of felt lied to a little bit. I was going all that time thinking I was fine," Shareef says, looking back on that moment. "I was living the rest of my life, 14 years, thinking I was fine playing every day, didn't know that I could possibly die that day."

Shaunie wonders why doctors didn't catch the ACA when Shareef was younger. "You know, when he would say his heart was beating really fast, we were told, 'Oh, it's just him growing too fast. His body's too big for his heart, and his heart's not keeping up with his growth,'" she says.

"Why didn't they do more testing to see that this was what this was? From what I was told, they went through the proper procedures. Like you don't just give people MRIs and CAT scans and all that kind of stuff based on your heartbeat [going] up sometimes when you're doing things."

According to Stanford, ACAs are present at birth but often go undetected until late adolescence or adulthood. Early diagnosis is difficult thanks to "the lack of symptoms or because symptoms may not be recognized as being caused by ACA."

Shaunie and the family were devastated by the news. She considered Shareef the "nucleus" of the family. "My mom calls him the dad," she says, referring to Shareef's grandmother, Dear, "'cause he is very in tune with where everybody is, what everybody's doing, making sure everybody's OK. And he's kind of always been that. He is kind of like a dad."

Shareef's cousin and close friend Greg Jordan noticed a dramatic shift in the mood inside the O'Neal house. He struggled to cope, as well. "My heart dropped," Jordan says. "I know how bad he wanted it and how hard he worked to get to where he is, and once he told me, I just lost it. I didn't know what to do. Because I knew he was down."

Jordan says Shareef was "always a happy person." But that changed somewhat after the diagnosis. "Every day I was talking to him," Jordan says. "I called him, checked [in] and made sure he was good. Once, I found he was really depressed, sad, not good energy. It was like everything just changed."

Shareef did research on the kind of heart surgery he would need—the complications and death possibilities sent him into a complete "panic mode." "The stuff I looked up is probably stuff I shouldn't have," he admits. His surgeon, Frank L. Hanley, MD, professor of cardiothoracic surgery and director of the Children's Heart Center at Stanford, offered his reassurances during one of his pre-surgery appointments.

"The surgeon told us, 'Some people decide to get the surgery, and some people are just like, I'm going to live with it and hope nothing ever happens.'" After hearing that, Shareef thought, I don't want to get this surgery. I might just stop. "I was so scared because I was reading all that stuff," he says. "But then I could see the face my mom and my dad made. I can't just live with this because I don't wanna go the next day, pick up a ball and be like, 'This could possibly be my last day playing.'"

Hanley then told a joke to lighten the mood: "LeBron James is the Frank Hanley of basketball." That helped soften Shareef's trepidations some—at least for the time being. "When he said that, I said, 'This guy is accomplished. I'm going to let him do it,'" Shareef says.

Surgery was set for Dec. 13, 2018 at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford.

---

The week of the surgery, family and friends threw a pre-surgery gathering. Shaunie cooked food. "We just had a good vibe," Shareef says. Nobody really spoke about the operation. The purpose was to shower Shareef with love. People gave him hugs, laughed and hung out. "It was like a regular day. Nobody was talking about it."

Shareef continued to go about his regular life. The day he was scheduled to leave for Stanford, he took a final. "I felt really good about the final," he says. "After I handed it to the teacher, he was like, 'What are you doing now that school is over?' And I was like, 'I got to catch a flight right now and go get heart surgery.'"

When he got to Stanford, Myles, Shaqir, Amirah, Me'arah and other family members were there. Shaqir helped keep Shareef's energy up. "Thank God I have a brother like Shaqir," he says. "Because he such a funny kid and he kept the energy. I can't really imagine being an only child."

On surgery day, Shareef awoke at 4 a.m. to prepare for going under the knife. He had to be at the hospital at 6 a.m. He had to wipe his body with sanitizing wipes. He got into his surgery gown and put a hoodie on to stay warm. The family crowded around the prep room while a crew readied him for anesthesia. They hadn't met the anesthesiologist at the pre-op meetings, Shaunie says. When it was time for him to go under, she watched as her son get wheeled away. "I just wanted to go with him," she says. "You know, I just didn't want him to feel by himself."

"You don't want to say goodbye," Shaunie adds.

Shareef hates needles. While the staff prepared him for sedation, they gave him a virtual reality game and let him listen to music. "They were being slick, and I could feel it," Shareef says. He became light-headed and felt his body "rolling." He blinked, then blinked once more and was out. The last song he remembers was "Say You Will" by Kanye West. Those few seconds, he says, were "the scariest moment in my life."

When he awoke hours later in the ICU, his mother and father were standing bedside. Shareef was laboring to breathe. "I had this big tube I was breathing through, and I had like a chest tube and something in my stomach," he says. "I was just trying to catch my breath. Then I started crying when I got up because I was just so confused. I seen my mom and them and they were like, 'Its all over. It's all over.'"

Before Shareef dozed off, a staffer told him to dream about happy things, but he also had thoughts that something bad might happen. "I was like, 'What will make me happy?' I never really told anybody this, but I was like—LeBron! While I was asleep during my surgery, I had been dreaming, and LeBron was in the dream," Shareef says. "Damn, that's crazy."

He was in a lot of pain. He pressed the nurse call button "like crazy." "I never been hurt like that in my life," Shareef says. "I've broken bones and all that, but there wasn't a pain like that."

The surgery had left him with no power in his body to stand up. And yet, he eagerly requested to walk the second day. Hour by hour, he was progressing—faster than what a number of doctors expected. "He was a real soldier through the whole thing," Shaunie says.

He found inspiration in unlikely places. One day, he met a fellow patient—a 16-year-old, by Shareef's estimate—wearing a red superhero cape. The boy had already undergone two transplants and was headed to his fifth surgery. Shareef was impressed by the boy's spirit. "He was the happiest kid I ever seen in my life," he says. "I thought it was cool that he had such a good mindset after all this."

It was then that Shareef's outlook on his recovery changed. He started thinking about how he might draw from his experience to create something new. He had a sizeable scar running down the middle of his chest with stitches sewn together like braids. (In most open-heart operations, surgeons must make a long incision through the sternum.) Like his father, Shareef liked to create nicknames for himself. One is SSJREEF, which serves as his Twitter handle. So after some thought, he came up with a new moniker: "Zipper Boy."

"I found out what a zipper scar was, and my dad was Superman," Shareef explains. "I wanted to make something good out of something bad. I wanted to make a superhero."

---

Five days later, he was released from the hospital. But his recovery was far from over. Sleeping was painful, breathing hurt, lifting bags seemed impossible. Shareef could barely pick up his cellphone. He describes himself as resembling "a walking mannequin." (Before surgery, he weighed 222 pounds; after he walked out, he had dropped to 197 pounds.) The recovery instructions from his doctors were simple: eat and rest.

He received a lot of positive words from some of the biggest stars in basketball. LeBron left a comment on Shareef's Instagram post with encouraging words following the news of his surgery release. Kobe called him weekly leading up to his surgery. Tracy McGrady, with whom Shareef has previously trained, stayed in touch.

Some hoopers knew Shareef's struggles personally. In 2007, Etan Thomas underwent open-heart surgery to repair a leak of the aortic valve. "I would tell him to take his time but to use any negative criticism or doubters as motivation," says Thomas. "Let it fuel his fire and remember that what God has for you, nobody can take it away from you."

Current Utah Jazz forward Jeff Green missed the 2011-12 lockout-shortened season due to an aortic aneurysm that could've burst and bled inside his body at any moment. "He's just 19, so when you are younger you heal a lot faster, and I just told [Shareef] it's going to be a process," says Green. "My thing was always to keep your faith. Stay strong and just believe."

Shareef found hobbies to keep himself busy. He watched movies like Creed 2, Unbroken, The Revenant—one of his favorites—and Dragon Ball Z. He watched Fortnite clips on YouTube and played video games. He started getting into beat-making and film editing, crafting mixtapes and short movies. Southside of 808 Mafia, who follows Shareef on IG, invited him to the studio. "He was in there recording some songs, and I was listening to beats, and the day after I was like, 'I'm going to Guitar Center and get a beat machine right now,'" Shareef says. "Music probably helped me get through a lot."

He also started to reassess life and prioritize his well-being. "I made sure I was good before making sure everyone else was good. After that, I shut that all down and had to realize what was important: school, family and all that." Unsurprisingly, some of the people he knew pre-surgery didn't reach out during the most frightening time of his life.

"He was a real soldier through the whole thing."
—Shaunie O'Neal on Shareef

"My parents told me there would be some people hang around me just because my name or what I have," says Shareef. "I feel like people saw me go down for a second there, and they were like this might be the end of Shareef. We might just pass this off and go to the next hot name.

"I noticed it, and I don't have any beef with those people. No hard feelings. That's how they roll, so I'm just going to let them be."

He lost contact with a lot of folks, became less social. Meanwhile, he was working out, slowly gaining steam physically.

In March 2019, he took a stress test. The test required him to run for an extended period of time while doctors assessed the electrical signals that triggered his heartbeats. Shareef doubled the expected time and was cleared to resume activities.

He announced his clearance on social media in a video of him running in slow motion on a treadmill. "I always get back up," flashes across the screen.

https://twitter.com/SSJreef/status/1110584138069741569

Excitement poured into the comment section from fans, friends and members of the NBA family like Tyson Chandler, Trae Young and Stephen Jackson.

Shareef's next move was to work out in L.A. with Gup, Caleb Christopher and Billy Preston. His first shot was a mid-range swish. He then threw down a few dunks. It was a day he and his "brothers" would never forget.

On June 15, 2019, he made his Drew League debut. He wanted to stay low-key and chose not to alert the public. But it didn't matter. His team, Tuff Crowd, was scheduled to play at 1:00 p.m. that day. LaMelo Ball was expected to play in the 3:45 time slot. A line outside wrapped around the building. As Shareef put on his No. 7 jersey, he got anxious. He told himself he could either crumble under pressure or "turn up."

Just after tip-off, Shareef snagged the rebound off a miss, raced down the court toward the right side of the floor and missed a pull-up three-pointer. I missed my first shot, he thought to himself. Next time I get the ball, I'm going to do something.

A few possessions later, his teammate and NBA free agent Brandon Jennings grabbed a long rebound and passed the ball to Shareef in the right corner. He drove baseline and powered through his defender with his left shoulder, sending the defender into the floor. Shareef then rose over the next defender who came to contest and threw down a right-handed dunk that sent waves through the crowd. Some flinched in their seats, and some made a face like they tasted a lemon.

"Shareef O'Neal!" Preciado yelled over a raucous crowd.

It was a moment of redemption. The return of Shareef O'Neal.

---

Shareef thinks often about what got him through: his support system of family and friends. "I have 'Family first' tatted across my whole chest for a reason," he says. "My family is real strong. A lot of people say my family really sticks together. We never really go anywhere alone."

The ups and downs have been humbling. He tries to smile more. Be more gracious with fans. "I think people who don't really know think I live the smooth road," he says. "Nobody lives a perfect life. You can have everything you want in the world, but I don't think it will be perfect. People think I have never gone through struggle moments, and there has been plenty of times I've gone through struggle moments."

The ordeal has made him all the more grateful. "He's a different Reef for sure," Shaunie says. "He's definitely more focused, a lot more, you know, appreciative … He was always a good kid, but I think now it's just—he appreciates everything."

Shareef is preparing for his first season at UCLA. He's put on weight again, tried to improve each day. His bounce is as springy as ever. He is more aware of his body and flags things quickly. "He calls me more," Shaunie says. "He's just more open to talking." Shareef says this summer and the summer he declares for the draft will be big tests for him. "This will probably be bigger because I feel like I was forgotten in the basketball world a little bit," he says.

He thinks back to the decision to come to UCLA in the first place. "A lot of people say 'God's plan' because if I was still at Arizona, who knows what could have happened to me," says Shareef. "I don't know if they would have found the same problem. I'm glad I made that decision. That probably was the biggest decision of my life."

Now that Shareef has entered a new chapter in his life, he's been cooking up a new nickname—and he's had some help.

"My dad told me you might need to take that new Superman name," Shareef says. "I thought about it. I didn't want to take it. [But] he made it a big deal. I asked him why and he said, 'I didn't make it through a heart surgery. I didn't have to go through what you did at 19. I don't think I would have been able to make it. You're strong. You're on top of the world. Nobody can stop you. After your new heart, you will be the baddest man out. You take the Superman name.'"

After some hesitance, Shareef decided he would take the name, but with a slight twist. "I don't want to say I'm the new Superman, but I will say I'm Superman 2.0," he says. He got the shield tatted on his left arm. "That will be my new little nickname because he was the OG Superman."

Eric Yeboah is a producer at Bleacher Report.

UCLA's Shareef O'Neal is back on the basketball court.

O'Neal used a medical redshirt for last season after UCLA doctors discovered a heart ailment during summer workouts. O'Neal, the son of Hall of Famer Shaquille, underwent successful heart surgery on Dec. 13 and missed his entire freshman season.

On Wednesday, the 19-year-old posted photos of his return:

https://twitter.com/SSJreef/status/1118668627903823872

O'Neal signed his letter of intent to the Bruins in August 2018 as the No. 41-ranked prospect by 247Sports.

Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times explained in September that O'Neal's heart had an "electrical problem" that surgery was supposed to correct fully.

At the time of his surgery, O'Neal appeared in a video for TMZ (h/t ESPN.com's Myron Medcalf) and assured that the heart condition is "absolutely not" career-ending. He is expected to be able to take the floor for UCLA next season.

UCLA (17-16) could have certainly used the 6'9", 215-point 4-star recruit on the court last season, as sixth-year head coach Steve Alford was fired on Dec. 31 after the team got off to a sluggish 7-6 start.

Now that O'Neal is on the mend, he is wearing the scar down the middle of his chest as a badge:

https://twitter.com/SSJreef/status/1107867876780703745

O'Neal has seven months to return to full health and breathe new air into UCLA alongside guard Tyger Campbell, who also missed his freshman season because of a torn ACL during an October practice.

The refurbished Bruins will be led into 2019-20 by new head coach Mick Cronin, who took the Cincinnati Bearcats to the NCAA tournament in every season since 2010-11.

Tennessee fans excited to still have Rick Barnes as head basketball coach should thank the buyout clause in his contract with the school. 

Per Mike Wilson of the Knoxville News Sentinel, Barnes admitted he thinks he "would have been the coach at UCLA" if his buyout had been settled. 

Per Evan Daniels of 247Sports, Barnes emerged as a "serious candidate" for UCLA's head coaching job earlier this month. 

On April 8, ESPN's Chris Low reported Barnes turned down an offer of $5 million per year from the Bruins to sign a new deal at Tennessee. 

Daniels noted Barnes' buyout from Tennessee was $5 million as part of the extension he signed with the school in September 2018. That deal made him the second-highest paid head coach in the SEC at $3.25 million, behind Kentucky's John Calipari ($9.276 million).  

The Bruins ultimately hired Mick Cronin away from Cincinnati for six years and $24 million, per ESPN's Jeff Borzello.

Barnes just finished his fourth season with the Volunteers. They tied the school single-season record with 31 wins and advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time in five years in 2018-19. 

UCLA will hope to get its basketball program back on track with the hiring of Mick Cronin as the team's newest head coach. 

Welcome to Westwood, Coach Cronin!#GoBruins pic.twitter.com/8nBU5nNxaY

— UCLA Athletics (@UCLAAthletics) April 9, 2019

According to ESPN.com's Jeff Borzello, Cronin's deal is worth $24 million over six years. 

TCU coach Jamie Dixon had initially seemed like he would be the team's next head coach, but his $8 million buyout caused the deal to fall through.

Cronin has spent the past 13 years at Cincinnati, accumulating a 296-147 record. Adding in his three years with Murray State, and he has 365 victories at the Division I level.

The coach had turned the Bearcats into one of the most consistent teams in college basketball, reaching the NCAA tournament in each of the last nine years. The squad also won the AAC tournament in each of the past two seasons.

Lack of postseason success has been a bit of a problem as Cronin is just 6-9 in the NCAA tournament with Cincinnati, including only one Sweet 16 berth.

However, his consistency throughout his career speaks for itself, as does his knack for strong defenses every single season.

The Bruins are coming off a disappointing 17-16 season that saw Steve Alford get fired after 13 games. Murry Bartow took over and didn't find much more success as the team missed the postseason for the second time in four years.

It has been an overall disappointing decade for the once-proud program, which has 11 NCAA championships but hasn't won a title since 1995. The last Final Four appearance was in 2008, but the team hasn't advanced beyond the Sweet 16 in the last 11 years.

The good news is there is young talent on the roster, even with Kris Wilkes and potentially others heading to the NBA. There were zero seniors on last year's squad and the returning players, plus recruits Jaime Jaquez and Jake Kyman, can help the team return to contention in the Pac-12.

If Cronin can get his system into place, he can help UCLA reach expectations before too long.

UCLA has reportedly presented Rick Barnes with a "lucrative offer" offer to be its next head men's basketball coach, according to Chris Low of ESPN. 

The deal would reportedly pay the 64-year-old coach $5 million per year, plus bonuses and incentives.

However, per Low, Barnes is "wrestling with a decision" to take the offer or stay at Tennessee, where he has spent the past four seasons. UCLA believed to have sealed the deal with Barnes before Tennessee countered with "more money," according to Seth Davis of The Athletic. If Barnes stays at Tennessee, Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin will become the top option, per Davis.

The coach made $3.25 million this season and is signed through 2023-24, while his contract comes with a $5 million buyout. The buyout was a holdup for TCU coach Jamie Dixon, who appeared set to take the UCLA job until his $8 million buyout caused the deal to fall through, per Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times.

Barnes was named the Naismith Coach of the Year this season after leading Tennessee to a 31-6 record. The squad reached the No. 1 ranking in the polls just two years after missing the NCAA tournament with a 16-16 record.

The Volunteers also became the third different program to reach the Sweet 16 under Barnes.

Over the course of 32 years at the Division I level, Barnes has won 692 games, including 402 in his 17 years at Texas.

UCLA is clearly willing to give a lot of money to someone with this type of resume, but Barnes reportedly is still torn about whether or not to stay in Knoxville.

One factor could be Tennessee likely losing a good chunk of its production from this year's team if Grant Williams follows Admiral Schofield and Jordan Bone to the NBA as expected. Joining the Bruins could prevent a rebuild with the Volunteers in 2019-20.

UCLA continues to search for a new head basketball coach, and Rick Barnes has reportedly "emerged as a serious candidate," according to Evan Daniels of 247Sports.

Barnes has spent the past four years as head coach of Tennessee after 17 years at Texas.

The Bruins appeared ready to hire TCU coach Jamie Dixon, but the deal fell through as a result of his $8 million buyout.

Barnes would be one of the most proven coaches available for UCLA after compiling a 692-364 career record at the Division I level.

He has taken four different programs to the NCAA tournament in four different major conferences, beginning with Providence in 1989 before eventually moving to Clemson, Texas and Tennessee. He won more than 400 games with the Longhorns, going to the Final Four in 2003.

The 64-year-old has also showed he can turn around a major program in a hurry, transforming Tennessee from a 15-19 squad in 2015-16 to a national title contender this season. The Volunteers went 31-6 while reaching the No. 1 ranking in the Associated Press poll before suffering a Sweet 16 loss in the NCAA tournament.

Of course, postseason struggles are nothing new to Barnes, who has just a 24-24 career record in the NCAA tournament despite often having high seeds. This could be a concern for UCLA, which is hoping to improve upon the Steve Alford era that featured three Sweet 16 appearances in six seasons.

After a 17-16 season, however, the Bruins will hope to find anyone who can get the program back on track.