Shaquille O’Neal is one of the greatest of all time. One reason for much of his success is the great mentors he’s had over the years. And his stepfather, Sgt. Phillip Harrison was Shaq’s early mentor, who taught him a variety of different skills, even shooting like Jerry West. However, as revealed in the book Shaq Talks Back, he also accused LSU of ruining his lessons.
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Back when he was training under Sarge, the Big Diesel could do it all on the court. He could pass it out the back, go up to block a shot, and even had a mean jump shot. But, by the time he got to college, coach Dale Brown had other ideas for him. In particular, he wanted to turn Shaq into a full-fledged box player. And, he succeeded.
Sgt. Phillip Harrison accused LSU of completely changing Shaquille O’Neal’s game
In his high school days, Shaquille O’Neal had a tough taskmaster in Sgt. Phillip Harrison. His stepfather was strict with him but also knew he needed to nurture Shaq’s natural talent. So, he made his stepson participate in a number of different sports.
He first had him try football, but upon realizing his son’s gift for basketball, he focused on training him on the hardwood floor. He taught him a lot of skills, ones that would have translated well into the professional game. From passing the ball like Wes Unseld to blocking like the late great Bill Russell. And he even taught him how to take jump shots like Jerry West.
In other words, Shaq could do it all. However, all that changed when he got to college to play for LSU. It was here that Dale Brown decided to make The Big Aristotle a pure box player, something Sarge wasn’t too happy about seeing. Here is his quote from the book, ‘Shaq Talks Back‘.
“When it became obvious that he had the size to be a basketball player, I tried to pattern his game after all the great players. Wes Unseld’s passing from the outside. Bill Russell’s blocked shots. Jerry West’s jump shot. He could do all that kind of stuff when he was young. When he ended up at LSU, they made him a box man. But he’s still got a lot of that old-school in his game.”
That being said, Coach Brown also tried teaching Shaq a few unique skills, like, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s famous skyhook shot. But, Sgt. Harrison wasn’t too pleased about that either.
Dale Brown tried teaching Shaquille O’Neal the skyhook much to his stepfather’s chagrin
Shaquille O’Neal was a dominant force in the paint. But, LSU head coach Dale Brown, still wanted to add an extra element to his star player’s game. So, he got one of the greatest centers of all time, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to come to Louisiana and give Shaq some pointers. This included a few sessions on how to shoot the skyhook.
Kareem’s move is widely considered to be the most unstoppable shot in NBA history. But Sgt. Phillip Harrison did not want his son to learn the move. In fact, he insisted that Shaq continue to be a paint beast, focused solely on dunking the ball with authority.
Luckily for him, Sarge got what he wanted, as Shaq went on to become the most dominant player in NBA history. A title he holds proudly to this day.
