Can Mike Bibby and Shaq make Sacramento State a winner?

When Mike Bibby and Shaquille O’Neal faced off in the 2002 Western Conference Finals as members of the Sacramento Kings and Los Angeles Lakers, respectively, they could hardly have imagined the way they would become teammates in 2025. Shortly after Bibby took over as the head coach at Sacramento State in March, he signed O’Neal’s son Shaqir, who had entered the transfer portal following his junior season at Florida A&M. A few weeks later, Sacramento State made major waves when it announced that Shaq would join the program as General Manager. What exactly O’Neal will do for the program, and how much time he will spend, remains to be seen. But for a program that few fans knew much about or had even heard of (who knew Sacramento was a state?), the announcement was a stroke of genius, at least for a couple of news cycles.

Like any new coach, Bibby, who has no prior college coaching experience, has been hard at work recruiting players since he signed on. He still has several more roster spots to fill, and there are hundreds more uncommitted players who are still available in the transfer portal. So he’s playing the same game every other coach is playing these days — get as much NIL money as he can, sign as many players as he can, win as many games as he can. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Bibby spoke to Hoops HQ correspondent Paul Gutierrez about his new gig. We also have an exclusive interview conducted by Alex Squadron with Creighton coach Greg McDermott, who not only signed another terrific crop of transfers but brought back his former assistant Alan Huss to serve as his coach in waiting. The more things change in college basketball, the more they remain the same in Omaha. Creighton looks like it will keep on winning.

That should set the table for you on this Wednesday as you follow all the developing news in college hoops and watch these scintillating NBA and NHL playoffs. Have a great day, everyone, and thanks as always for your support of Hoops HQ. —Seth

With an Assist From Shaquille O’Neal, Mike Bibby Hopes to Make Sacramento State a Winner

By Paul Gutierrez

Sacramento State, which became a D-I program in 1991, has only had two winning seasons, going 21-12 in 2014-15 and 16-14 in 2019-20. The program has never played in the NCAA Tournament. The Hornets, who have competed in the Big Sky Conference since 1996, were just 7-25 last season and finished No. 348 on KenPom. Enter Mike Bibby, who won a national title as a true freshman point guard at Arizona in 1997, was the No. 2 overall pick in the 1998 NBA draft and played 14 seasons in the NBA but has never been a head coach above the high school level.

The move marked Bibby’s homecoming to Sacramento, where he helped lead the Kings to five playoff appearances, including a heart-breaking seven-game Western Conference Finals loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in 2002. So it has that prodigal-son-returning vibe and brings the program much-needed star power. That also includes Shaquille O’Neal, the center on that Lakers team, whom Bibby convinced to serve as the program’s General Manager.

Creighton Has a Plan for Success — And Succession

By Alex Squadron

After the season ended, Greg McDermott started talking more seriously about the possibility of Alan Huss rejoining Creighton’s staff as associate head coach and head-coach-in-waiting. Huss played for the Bluejays under now-Oregon coach Dana Altman from 1997-2001 and was one of McDermott’s assistants from 2017-2023.

Now that Huss has officially assumed the position, McDermott has peace of mind as he looks ahead to next season. “It’s always been my hope that someday one of my guys would replace me,” McDermott tells Hoops HQ. “I’m excited that he was willing to do it and that the administration here was on board with it. It allows me to walk away when I want to walk away and not have the fear that your program is going to implode when that happens.”

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