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Shaquille O’Neal redefines being a big man on campus, specifically at Sacramento State. With his son a senior on the Hornets’ basketball team, the former Los Angeles Lakers star and Hall of Fame center has made his presence known as the squad’s non-paid general manager and university ambassador.

There he was at a recent private fundraiser at Sky River Casino, entertaining potential donors, discussing his “zero-dollar” salary, telling jokes and calling the city “Shaq-ramento” and the university “Shaq State.” Then he was at Cal Expo the next night, engaging in his DJ hobby. The occasion was a raucous concert for university students on the Sacramento Republic’s home pitch.

During his 19 seasons and 1,207 games in the NBA, O’Neal was center stage in Orlando, Miami, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Cleveland and Boston, winning four NBA championships. Now, in retirement, it’s the capital city. O’Neal is part of the school’s new approach, the hiring of untested celebrity and big-personality coaches to vault the Hornets into the national spotlight.

Sacramento State has offered collegiate athletics, with as many twists and turns and undulations as the American River, for nearly 80 years. The Hornets have competed in many regional conferences, several national associations and in and on a handful of campus and community venues. Teams have varied from baseball to beach volleyball, rowing to rugby.

Multiple conference titles and a few national championships happened along the way. Five athletes from the university have been Olympians, albeit all for other countries. The football team has appeared in two bowl games, the most recent a 34-7 loss to Grambling State in the 1968 Pasadena Bowl.

The women’s basketball team advanced to the NCAA Division I tournament for the first time in school history in 2023. Twenty-one former Sacramento State football players have been on active NFL rosters. Ten former Hornets, five this season, have played Major League Baseball.

The school’s sports teams have also endured many lean years when national recognition and local interest waned and empty seats reigned. But the institution, which debuted its original sports — basketball, baseball and tennis — in 1948, has embraced a controversial change.

The star-studded lineup of new hires

Four months later, the school hired Mike Bibby, age 47, as head basketball coach. A 14-year NBA player (including seven seasons with the Sacramento Kings), Bibby retired in 2012 and began coaching at the high school level in 2013. The Hornets are also Bibby’s debut as a collegiate head coach. Michael Bibby Jr., one of Mike Bibby’s four children, was hired as an assistant coach.

Further national attention followed. Shaqir O’Neal, one of Shaquille O’Neal’s six children, was Bibby’s first recruit. At 6’8” and 200 pounds, the forward will be playing for his fourth university in four years with his father watching.

“Shaq’s role is whatever Shaq wants it to be,” says Mark Orr, the university’s athletics director since 2017. “We are so fortunate to have Shaquille O’Neal want to be involved. He will be a mentor to our student athletes. They may want to play professionally. They may want to be good businessmen. Shaq is a role model in so many different ways.”

The Hornets are trying to fulfill a desire for increased national athletic prominence. Sacramento State wants its entire 21-sport men’s and women’s athletic program to participate against the country’s most prominent sports-focused universities. Football competes in the FCS – Football Championship Subdivision – a notch below the top Football Bowl Subdivision. Formerly called Division I-A, the FBS is the country’s highest level of college football. It’s what Sac State President Dr. Luke Wood and Orr view as the school’s fruitful future path.

The push is part of the school’s increased marketing. Billboard signs around the city promote Bibby and Marion, a women’s wrestling champion and a combat arts titlist.

The university’s image and slogans are prominent at Sacramento International Airport. Social media campaigns tout the campus energy.

But like many universities, Sacramento State has had severe academic layoffs and department cutbacks. It’s also soliciting multi-million-dollar public and private funding for a robust, multifaceted athletic facility.

Strengthening the athletic programs

“There is no tradeoff between athletics and academics in our budget decisions,” says Wood. “These two areas operate from fundamentally different funding streams that don’t compete.

“Our athletic budget draws from multiple dedicated revenue sources, ticket sales, corporate sponsorships, student fees earmarked for athletics and donor contributions specifically designated for sports programs.”

Wood’s pitch to elevate the football program started soon after the former Sacramento State graduate was hired in May 2023 at age 43 as the university’s ninth president. Change occurred quickly in tandem with Orr, age 48, the school’s fourth athletics director in six years and 16th in school history. It also occurred in concert with ever-changing NCAA eligibility rules.

“I think we are committed to investing into our athletics program to compete at the highest level,” says Orr. “We do believe this university, 31,000 students and top 20 media market, would support big-time FBS college football right here in Sacramento.”

Having the football team play the country’s top teams requires an expansive budget, an appropriate playing field, vast negotiation and cooperation from other universities and the NCAA, the governing body of collegiate sports.

Sacramento State’s football future could involve a move off campus. Cal Expo’s board of directors and university officials have discussed the feasibility of a new football stadium at the fairgrounds located a few miles off campus.

Wood remains determined.

“Sacramento State provides one of the best educational experiences in the country,” he says. “But for too long, not enough people knew about the value of our university. We’ve made a conscious effort to change that by telling our story more boldly and broadly.”

“I think we are committed to investing into our athletics program to compete at the highest level. We do believe this university, 31,000 students and top 20 media market, would support big-time FBS college football right here in Sacramento.”

— Mark Orr, Sac State athletics director

Wood hoped Sac State would move into a reconfigured Pacific-12 Conference set to return in 2026 with five Mountain West Conference programs. It didn’t happen. Sacramento State announced in June that 20 of its 21 programs will join the Big West Conference in 2026. The Hornets’ football program will play this season in the Big Sky Conference, which it joined in 1996. The program doesn’t have a conference for the 2026 season. The Hornets sought to move to the FBS as an independent, which required an NCAA waiver. The school’s application was denied.

“Sacramento State has met every meaningful benchmark for FBS membership, and we believe our university, our students, and the entire Sacramento region deserve major college football,” Wood said on X, formerly Twitter. “We’re full steam ahead, and we still plan to be playing FBS football in 2026.”

Attracting top recruits

Coaches at Sacramento State have recruited dozens of athletes within the past several months. A sizable list, including all underclassmen from last season’s 7-25 men’s basketball team, left the school via other possibilities in the NCAA transfer portal.

Initiated in 2018, the database has been adjusted in recent years to further ease the parameters for student athletes to transfer to different universities without loss of eligibility. It’s like virtual collegiate athlete trading cards.

Further NCAA changes occurred on June 21, 2021. The Supreme Court determined the organization violated antitrust laws by restricting athlete compensation. It opened opportunities for student-athletes to profit on their name, image and likeness, often called NIL.

“I understand the traditional model is that college sports are strictly amateur and that student athletes shouldn’t be able to do that,” says Orr, who played football at Cal after a celebrated high school career at Christian Brothers High School. “But I think we have to adapt and we are. And I don’t necessarily think it’s a bad thing if done the right way.

“If Quick Quack Car Wash wants to have our quarterback do a social media post saying, ‘Hey, come get your $2 car wash on Saturday,’ he can, and he can earn from that. Other students can do that. I really don’t have a problem with it.” Orr noted Sac State athletes have capitalized, with one student-athlete last year earning between $40,000-$50,000 via his NIL.

It’s doubtful any Sac State athlete knows the university’s sporting pedigree better than Greg Reed. The long-time Roseville resident, age 79, was the only Hornet drafted into the NBA. “It can’t be nothing but a big plus; it’s gotta be a big draw and great for recruiting,” says Reed of the new coaching regime. “But how good they are, that remains to be seen.”

Reed, who graduated in 1969, didn’t play in the NBA. But he remains proud of his college career, knows many former and current coaches and attends games often. He was introduced last among a few former players at halftime at the Hornets’ last game in The Nest, the school’s now-retired gymnasium. The basketball team will play this season across campus in The Well, the fitness and recreation complex. It has a capacity of about 3,000, about three times the limit of the old gym.

“I’ve always wondered what was holding everything back,” says Reed. “When I played we were just like Fresno State, Nevada, St. Mary’s and all these teams. We were all the same. But all those teams have managed to scream on by Sac State and go to a higher level. I think we just got left behind.”

Wood’s desire to bring attention to the university’s athletic program brought controversy. One early candidate was Michael Vick, the retired 13-year NFL quarterback and network broadcaster. Vick’s career was tainted by his 2007 admission of running a dog-fighting ring and killing some of the animals. He was sentenced to 23 months in prison and ordered to pay $1 million in restitution charges.

“We do our due diligence with any hire, certainly in football,” Orr says. “Michael Vick was someone we had a conversation with, but ultimately we hired the best coach in Brennan Marion. But I had a very pleasant conversation with Michael Vick. I think he’s going to do great things at Norfolk State.” (Vick was hired as the Virginia-based university’s head football coach last December.)

Bibby’s hire was also scrutinized. In February 2019, authorities confirmed he was being investigated by Phoenix police for allegedly sexually abusing a teacher at Shadow Mountain High in Arizona where Bibby played in high school and was the head coach. Charges were not filed for lack of probable cause.

Bibby was subsequently hired by Hillcrest Prep in Phoenix in 2019, but coached the team for only 10 games before leaving the school for undisclosed reasons.

“With Mike Bibby, he’s a legend here in Sacramento,” says Orr. “We certainly did due diligence with our human resources and background checks. Once we did that, we felt very comfortable that he’s a good fit, and there was nothing that concerned us about him leading our program.”

Orr started his Sacramento State job after a 16-year career at St. Mary’s College in Moraga. He was hired there at age 29 as the country’s youngest-ever Division I athletics director. After arriving at Sac State, he hired Troy Taylor as the Hornets’ head football coach before the 2019 season. The team won three conference titles in four seasons. Taylor, the former Cordova High School, Cal and NFL quarterback, left Sac State to coach Stanford beginning in 2023. He was dismissed earlier this year after two consecutive 3-9 seasons and an investigation into alleged bullying of Stanford athletic department members.

Orr also hired Mark Campbell, the women’s basketball coach who advanced the team into the NCAA Division I tournament – and was swiftly hired away by Texas Christian University. That success is among the athletics director’s catalysts.

“There are 10 FBS conferences in the country,” Orr says. “We will continue to try to engage and hopefully get an invitation. I continue to expect there will be movement among conferences. College football and the bowl sub-division level would be great for Sacramento. We are trying to do that for our region. We believe it would be supported.”

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