When Shaquille O'Neal's LSU coach revealed the rare qualities that made him a Tigers legend

Four-time NBA champion Shaquille O'Neal is one of the most recognizable faces in the history of the NBA for his dominant performances during his 19-year professional career. Before he arrived in the NBA, O'Neal starred for the LSU Tigers under coach Dale Brown between 1989 and 1992.

In a clip posted on the "Rogers Photo Archive" YouTube page in 2013, Dale was full of praise for the former LA Lakers superstar and broke down the qualities that made him an LSU legend.

"He has no ego, and that's very important," Brown said (0:10). "He isn't ‘Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all?’ It's you, Shaquille. Two, he knows he wants to get better, and that comes from home when his dad will say, ‘Well, he's a fairly good athlete.’ They're not all hung up on thinking he's the greatest. Once you start imagining things and you're not quite there, you cut off your potential.

"The third thing is, he's a scholar. He was our leading student academically at the end of his freshman year. It wasn't tough at all. Once I know those things, and I think about it, what you see is exactly what you get. And that's honesty and integrity. I think this family should be held up as a beacon of light for a lot of people."

Shaquille O'Neal had a stellar LSU career

Coach Dale Brown first met Shaquille O'Neal on an American army base in Germany when he was 13 years old, and the LSU Tigers coach later recruited him from Robert Cole High School in Texas.

In his three-year LSU career (1989-1992), Shaq averaged 21.6 points, 13.5 rebounds and 4.6 blocks per game and still holds the record for most blocked shots in Tigers' history (412). He won two SEC Player of the Year awards and was a two-time All-American.

In a clip posted on the "Rogers Photo Archives" YouTube page from a news conference in 1992, Brown summarized the charismatic Shaquille O'Neal's LSU career.

"There's no price on their head for the young children who may watch your show and think everybody gets a Rolls-Royce and a gold chain and a slush fund if they're the greatest," Brown said (1:20). "What they say is, ‘The greatest player to ever play the game at this spot didn’t have to take it.’ They don’t have to take it. So, I admire him greatly."

After his stellar college basketball career, Shaquille O'Neal declared for the 1992 NBA draft and was picked No. 1 overall by the Orlando Magic, and he went on to have a legendary career in the pros. O'Neal has continued to attend LSU games and support his alma mater, where his No. 33 jersey was retired in 2000.