Jermaine O'Neal - Early Life and High School Career

Early Life and High School Career

Jermaine O'Neal was born in Columbia, South Carolina. Both he and his older brother, Clifford, were raised single-handedly by his mother, Angela Ocean. Ocean worked hard to support her sons, and left her children largely to their own devices. O'Neal found his love for athletics at a young age. Tall and quick, he enjoyed both American football and basketball, but basketball was his favorite sport. Two of his basketball heroes are Hakeem Olajuwon and Bill Russell; O'Neal often marveled at the former's approach to the game, while he loved watching the latter's video highlights of his duels with Wilt Chamberlain.

Each summer, he would play for an AAU team, and impressed onlookers with his athleticism and his ability to handle the ball with both hands. By the time he turned 14, the 6'4" O'Neal—now a confident guard who could drain three-pointers—entered Eau Claire High School of the Arts as a freshman in 1992. In his first meeting with basketball coach George Glymph, he made the bold promise to become the best player in the school's history. While O'Neal's first season was hardly noteworthy (he even played as quarterback for the Eau Claire team) things changed when he grew five inches over the next year and a half, and he was inspired to develop into a defensive powerhouse like his idol Russell. Glymph built his team's defense around O'Neal, and Eau Claire featured one of the most imposing frontcourts around. With O'Neal averaging 18 points, 12 rebounds and 9 blocks a game, Eau Claire captured its third straight 3A state title in 1995.

The following July, the 16-year-old was to raise his profile yet again. At an ABCD summer basketball camp, he outplayed Tim Thomas, a rising star at that time. Before long, recruiting letters from various top colleges came pouring in. O'Neal, however, also faced great pressure off the court. That same year, the District Attorney contemplated prosecuting him for rape after he and his 15-year-old girlfriend were found partially nude in bed together by her father. The DA eventually did not prosecute O'Neal, but as the latter struggled to cope with the pressure on and off the court, Glymph stepped in, introducing discipline to his life and keeping his feet to the ground. At the same time, O'Neal's mother had met a new man, Abraham Kennedy, who also guided O'Neal along.

In his senior season at Eau Claire, O'Neal's averages of 22.4 points, 12.4 rebounds and 5.2 blocks per game ensured that he was voted First Team All-State, South Carolina's Player of the Year and "Mr. Basketball". Named to USA Today's All-USA Basketball Team, he earned a spot in the McDonald's All-America Game as well. Despite being one of the nation's top prospects, O'Neal's future in college basketball was uncertain. He scored poorly on the SATs, and Glymph advised against him making the leap to the NBA. But it was only a year before that another South Carolinian—future NBA All-Star Kevin Garnett—had made a seamless transition from high school to the NBA, and O'Neal thought he could emulate Garnett.