After GM Shaquille O’Neal and commitment of Mikey Williams, Sacramento State get another boost in form of 6’2 guard

Sacramento State basketball has had an unexpected rebirth in recent days. The Hornets have been in the Big Sky Conference since 1996, but have never made the NCAA Tournament or the NIT. In the last decade, only a 16-14 year in 2019-20 was a winning season. The Hornets were 7-25 a year ago, but have now revamped the program.

Coach Mike Bibby and General Manager Shaquille O'Neal have made moves to revamp the program's personnel. After getting a commitment from Mikey Williams, Bibby and O'Neal have been at it again in the recruiting arena.

New recruit for Bibby, Shaq, Sacramento State

The Hornets have added an interesting transfer in 6-foot-2 guard Jayden Teat. Teat hails from Sacramento himself. He attended Utah, scoring 1.3 points per game in 18 games in 2023-24 as a freshman. Teat redshirted in the 2024-25 season, so he'll have three seasons of eligibility remaining at Sacramento State.

Given the Golden State's veritable ton of local talent, getting players into the program figures to be an ongoing story for the Hornets, particularly given their new leadership.

Bibby hiring

The Hornets first made some noise with the hiring of Mike Bibby. A collegiate star at Arizona, Bibby played for well over a decade in the NBA. Notably, he was a Sacramento King from 2001 to 2008. After the end of Bibby's playing career in 2012, he got into coaching.

Bibby coached at the high school level from 2013 to 2019. Misconduct allegations which did not end in any criminal charges scuttled Bibby's high school coaching career and he's been absent from coaching for several years. The Sacramento State job represents his first collegiate coaching opportunity.

Help from Shaq

Having taken over the program, which is a quiet school in a relatively dozy Division I conference, Bibby and the Hornets made yet more noise. They hired Shaquille O'Neal as the program's general manager. Given Shaq's wealth of contacts and exposure, this was a calculated move to help make Sacramento State more visible.

O'Neal's executive experience is as scant as Bibby's college coaching experience. But his continued presence in television and advertising ensures that no one around basketball can forget the massive former NBA star.

O'Neal has been at work securing the transfer of his son, Shaqir, and helping Bibby nab new talent on the recruiting trail. Jayden Teat is just another of his success stories and seems to point to a continued run of momentum for the Hornets.

What do you think of Teat's commitment and the Shaq/Bibby tandem? Share your take on Sacramento State's situation below in our comments section!