Shaquille O'Neal's latest Sac State addition, Mikey Williams, speaks on program's rebuild under Mike Bibby: "No politics involved"

UCF transfer Mikey Williams became the latest high-profile addition to the Sacramento State Hornets, which has a 2025 recruiting class that includes former Arizona State forward Brandon Gardner and Shaquille O’Neal's son, Shaqir O'Neal.

Williams, a former four-star recruit, announced his commitment to Sacramento State last week, after spending one year in Orlando, where he did not receive a lot of playing time. He averaged 5.1 points and 1.9 rebounds in 14.0 minutes per game.

On Saturday, the freshman guard was interviewed by Overtime to discuss his move to the Hornets, which went 7-25 (3-15 Big Sky) last season.

When asked why players like Gardner and O'Neal chose the program, Williams pointed to its newly hired coach, Mike Bibby.

"I think the main part is coach, Bibby, honestly, you feel me," Williams said (8:20). "So that's the head of the snake, that's like, that's your culture, right there. So I think everybody respects him.

"Then two, it's just the opportunity. When you get to the bigger schools, like politics getting involved heavy. So I feel like he already kept it 100 ain't no politics going on."

Williams believes that Bibby will offer players a fair chance to compete for playing time, which is a major draw, as some may not get that opportunity at larger programs. He added that if someone is not playing, it is due to their performance, not other factors.

Sacramento State also added Shaquille as general manager with the hope of revitalizing the program.

Mikey Williams shares his relationship with Shaquille O'Neal's son Shaqir

Mikey Williams told Overtime that he has a "cool relationship" with Shaquille O'Neal's son, Shaqir. The two have known each other since middle school, when they started playing basketball together.

In the same interview with Overtime, Williams revealed that Shaqir reached out to him to reconnect after committing to Sacramento State.

"He hit me last night for my number, so we tapped back in," Williams said (6:43).

When asked whether he knew that Shaqir was going to Sacramento State, Williams said that he learned of the news roughly a week after the commitment.

Williams added that since Shaqir hails from Los Angeles and he comes from San Diego, they occasionally battled on the court.