"What a great selling point": High school coaches predict a rise in Sacramento State recruiting with Shaquille O'Neal and Mikey Williams' boost

Sacramento State University has started its Shaquille O'Neal era, and some big changes are slowly being seen. On Monday, a month after former Sacramento Kings point guard Mike Bibby became the new MBB head coach, his friend, Shaq, became the new general manager. A day later, Mikey Williams announced his transfer to Sacramento State from Central Florida.

Shaqir O'Neal, Shaq's son, is also transferring after spending his junior season at Florida A&M, and the team's home stadium, the dilapidated 1,000-seat "Nest," is being replaced by the new 3,200-seat "The Well."

With all these changes, several head coaches sounded off on how this might affect the men's basketball team, and many responded positively.

San Ramon Valley-Danville High School coach Brian Botteen admitted that before all these changes, his players might never even have considered Sacramento State, which only had two winning seasons since becoming a Division I team.

"What a great selling point and opportunity to change the culture than to bring in names like that with such vast professional basketball backgrounds," Boteen said. "(Alameda Junior College) recently brought in Gary Payton and when a name like that drops, there's immediate interest."

Mitty-San Jose coach Tim Kennedy, who has coached Aaron Gordon and won two straight state Division 2 titles, also thinks that Sacramento State has now become a more viable choice for players to land on.

"I think anytime you have Shaq's name on it you will definitely get credibility right away," he said. "And with new facilities and new coach will add to the allure for Bay Area kids."

As general manager of Sacramento State, Shaquille O'Neal does not have to be as hands-on with the program. However, just his association with the Hornets alone will provide a big boost in attracting prospects to a school that has struggled much in Division I basketball.

Mike Bibby shares thoughts on Shaquille O'Neal being named Sacramento State MBB General Manager

Mike Bibby is no stranger to Shaq, as the former Sacramento Kings point guard has had plenty of classic battles with the legendary center during his Laker days. He is still good friends with the current "Inside the NBA" host, and he spoke with ESPN regarding him becoming the general manager for the school.

"Me and Shaq have a good relationship. It probably wasn't good when we were playing against each other," Bibby said on April 1. "There was a lot of try to get a rivalry going, try to make it big time in the league."

Bibby is expected to have a much better time recruiting people on his reputation alone. As a former high school coach, having won a state championship during his tenure at Shadow Mountain High School in Phoenix, he knows his way around high school players.