South Carolina Basketball: Gamecocks get second chance to land Jermaine O’Neal

South Carolina basketball was very good in the late 1990s. The Gamecocks made the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back seasons as a 2-seed in 1997 and as a 3-seed in 1998. However, as good as Eddie Fogler’s teams were, they could have been even better. Both Kevin Garnett and Jermaine O’Neal were South Carolina natives who ended up moving straight to the NBA out of high school instead of going to college to play. O’Neal was even a Columbia native who played his high school basketball at Eau Claire High School.

Now, Lamont Paris’ Gamecock squad will have a second chance to land Jermaine O’Neal…sort of. The six-time NBA All-Star’s son, Jermaine O’Neal, Jr., is a 4-star small forward prospect in the class of 2025 and visited the South Carolina basketball facility earlier this week with his famous father. Still with two years ahead of him, O’Neal has plenty of time before he makes his college decision, but the Gamecock staff is interested in the talented, 6’4″ small forward. O’Neal also has offers from Division-I programs like Vanderbilt, Arizona State, SMU, Tennessee, and Missouri.

The younger O’Neal is smaller than his power forward father, but the NBA blood flows through his veins as he has already been a big-time player at Dynamic Prep School in Dallas, Texas despite just finishing his sophomore year of high school. The Gamecocks will certainly be in the mix for O’Neal’s services moving forward.

South Carolina already has a commitment in the 2024 recruiting class (versatile 4-star forward Ekko Federiko from Finland), but the Gamecocks do not have any pledges in the 2025 recruiting class yet. As things stand today, the roster will be open to many newcomers after the 2023-2024 season as five Gamecocks will be utilizing their last year of eligibility, and four more will be in their fourth year of college.