{"id":252422,"date":"2026-04-05T03:19:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T03:19:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/252422\/"},"modified":"2026-04-05T03:19:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T03:19:15","slug":"sac-states-shaqir-oneal-wins-ncaa-college-dunk-contest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/252422\/","title":{"rendered":"Sac State\u2019s Shaqir O’Neal wins NCAA college dunk contest"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Shaqir<\/p>\n

Shaqir O\u2019Neal, of the Sacramento State men\u2019s basketball team in 2025-26, shows off his championship belt after winning the NCAA dunk contest Friday at the 37th State Farm College Slam Dunk & 3-point Championship in Indianapolis.<\/p>\n

Sacramento State<\/p>\n

Shaqir O\u2019Neal made his grand entrance as coach Mike Bibby\u2019s first recruit at Sacramento State on the eve of the season.<\/p>\n

The son of a retired NBA great in Hall of Famer Shaquille O\u2019Neal, the younger O\u2019Neal dazzled a packed house inside the old gym on campus called the \u201cNest\u201d by winning the university\u2019s slam dunk contest in what the school deemed \u201cHornet Madness.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Friday night, the 6-foot-8 forward won an even bigger dunk contest. He did so in front a nationally televised audience on ESPN in claiming the WWE-like belt at the 37th State Farm College Slam Dunk & 3-point Championship at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, site of the men\u2019s Final Four of NCAA March Madness.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Neal became the first Sac State player to win this event, and he delivered the best showing since former Grant High School star Jameel Pugh finished as the runner-up in 2005.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Neal won the Hornet Madness dunk deal by soaring over 6-foot-11 Brad Miller, the former Sacramento Kings forward who worked as an adviser to former Kings teammate Bibby this season.<\/p>\n

In Indianapolis, O\u2019Neal impressed the judges and the fans with an array of dunks, including reverse efforts. He also jumped over someone for a dunk. O\u2019Neal was surrounded by giddy kids<\/a> after the event while talking to ESPN. He won the event with a 180-degree dunk.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a lot of pressure,\u201d O\u2019Neal told ESPN.<\/p>\n

\"Sacramento Sacramento State Hornets forward Shaqir O’Neal and Idaho State Bengals forward Connor Hollenbeck battle for the ball during a game at Sacramento State on Monday, March 2. O\u2019Neal on Friday in Indianapolis won the NCAA dunk contest at the 37th State Farm College Slam Dunk & 3-point Championship. PAUL KITAGAKI JR. pkitagaki@sacbee.com <\/p>\n

Asked if he got any advice from his father, a renowned thunder dunker at just over 7 feet tall and in excess of 340 pounds, though he did not have near the creativity of his much more slender and agile son. Said O\u2019Neal to ESPN, looking into the camera, \u201cI know you\u2019re watching this. You say you got 10 grand for me if I win this. So, hey, I\u2019m expecting my money. Shout out to my pops. He got me new shoes. Shout out Shaq State!\u201d<\/p>\n

O\u2019Neal was one of two seniors who bid farewell to the program on Senior Night inside Hornet Pavilion. His famous father was on hand, their bond close.<\/p>\n

This story was originally published April 4, 2026 at 1:31 PM.<\/p>\n

Related Stories from Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Joe Davidson<\/a><\/p>\n

The Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n

Joe Davidson has covered sports for The Sacramento Bee since 1989: preps, colleges, Kings and features. He was in early 2024 named the National Sports Media Association Sports Writer of the Year for California and he was in the fall of 2024 inducted into the California High School Football Hall of Fame. He is a 14-time award winner from the California Prep Sports Writer Association. In 2021, he was honored with the CIF Distinguished Service award. He is a member of the California Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Davidson participated in football and track in Oregon.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Shaqir O\u2019Neal, of the Sacramento State men\u2019s basketball team in 2025-26, shows off his championship belt after winning…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":252423,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[121,123,122],"class_list":["post-252422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=252422"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252422\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/252423"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=252422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=252422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=252422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}