“I’m probably not going to pass this” – When Shaquille O'Neal revealed passing a test with ‘Rhyme Style’ in 10 minutes
Shaquille O'Neal admittedly wasn't the best student growing up. As a self-proclaimed bully, O'Neal struggled to maintain grades. Despite that, the influence of his stepfather Sgt. Philip Arthur Harrison, helped steer him in the right direction.
As O'Neal has explained in the past, his stepfather was able to motivate him by promising to take him to watch a game live. Once he was able to achieve Cs in school, Harrison took him to Madison Square Garden. There Shaq witnessed Julius Erving drive to the baseline and throw down a monster dunk.
The moment changed his life and inspired him to pursue his dream of being a professional player. Standing in the way of a collegiate career, however, was passing the SATs.
During a recent episode of The BIG Podcast, O'Neal revealed that his longtime friend and teammate Kobe Bryant was a great student. After sharing that Bryant scored 1700 on his SATs, O'Neal revealed how he finally made it to LSU after failing the SATs twice.
“When I heard he made 1700 on his SATs, I’m like, ‘Damn, I made 680 on my SATs!’ I did, I failed it twice. (If) you don’t get 700 on your SATs, you don’t play (college basketball). I made a 680 twice.
“I took the ACT – rhyme style – and I made a 23. You know what that is, rhyme style? Rhyme style is when I get there, I’m thinking ‘I’m probably not going to pass this’. So I was like ‘A to the B, this one’s C, this one’s D now bring it to an E’."
He continued:
“You know those guys who come in and say you’ve got 40 minutes to do the math thing? I get mine done in 10 minutes and I slam it down on the table, let everybody know I’m smart.”
Although Shaquille O'Neal may not have been able to dominate the SATs the same way Kobe Bryant did, he did finish his degree after being drafted to the NBA. While playing with the LA Lakers, Shaquille O'Neal's mom and his financial advisor convinced him to get his degree during summer school.
Shaquille O'Neal's doctorate degree
Given that Shaquille O'Neal admittedly struggled in school as a kid, many were floored by the fact that he received his doctorate degree in 2012. Even more shocking was that O'Neal graduated with a 3.813 GPA, a massive difference from his grades growing up.
Prior to that, however, when O'Neal was looking to get his masters degree, he wanted to go to classes in person. Despite that, the university wouldn't hold classes for just one student.
So, Shaquille O'Neal did something unheard of. He paid for 15 of his friends to attend school with him to get their masters degrees.
"So I went and got my masters from the University of Phoenix," O'Neal said. "The University of Phoenix is an online program mostly, but I went to the head officials and said, 'I don't wanna do it online, I want somebody to teach me in a class.'
"And then they came back and said, 'Unfortunately, we can't set up a classroom for one guy. You need 15 people.' So I paid for 15 of my friends to get their masters."'