BATON ROUGE – LSU basketball and NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal was at a graduation ceremony Saturday morning at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.


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.

(Release via LSU Athletics)
Filed Under: LSU Basketball
23 Comments
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semjase5 hours
For NON Multi-Millionaire X NBA players, what the frick can you do with a "Masters of Liberal Arts" from LSU? What kind of a job does a MLA make you qualified for?
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semjase5 hours
What can REGULAR students do with a MLA? (Not being negative in regards to Shaq specifically)
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kjntgr2 days
I hate Charles too
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KCT2 days
Barkley sold out to his corporate media overlords. Shaq will NEVER sell out.
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theballguy2 days
Congrats Shaq! That's a big deal!
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pbro622 days
Congrats to one of the greatest ambassadors of LSU and a genuine great person. Way to Geaux Diesel!!!
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Spankum2 days
Shaq….still setting a great example for young people!
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Bayou3 days
Greatest LSU rep. LSU forever!
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TheWalrus3 days
Collecting worthless degrees
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tigerpierre3 days
Worthless? Your ignorance is worthless, it is a mark of achievement but above all an INSPIRATION to his own children and the young people if this USA and world.

IT IS WORTHY!!
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rob07103 days
It's not like he is doing it for a career. I think he did pretty well for himself.
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BabyTac3 days
My sister had a class with Shaq back in the 90s. He was the class clown, but showed up for every class. Better than today when they live off campus and don’t take classes at all.
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BabyTac3 days
Congrats Big Fella. I was working concessions in high school and snuck away to watch the Duke game with you vs Laettner. Most electric I ever saw the PMAC.
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