With the College Basketball season now upon us, there are a few differences from previous years. One of them is TNT getting involved in both college football and basketball.
The old studio for Inside the NBA was turned over to TNT's college basketball coverage, leading to a bit of confusion why Shaquille O’Neal randomly crashed the pregame show for his old network on Friday night.
A warm welcome was handed to the basketball legend, who's now part of the NBA pregame team at ESPN. Shaq dropped in for a brief moment and disappeared into the night.
.@SHAQ stopped by to crash the TNT College Basketball Pregame show 😂 pic.twitter.com/q0DLAn0Mj9
— TNT Sports U.S. (@TNTSportsUS) November 8, 2025
Outside of his television duties, O’Neal has been busy lately. His custom Range Rover was stolen in transit outside of Atlanta, prompting a statewide police investigation and a $10k reward for any information leading to an arrest. He also has shared his thoughts on LSU football’s head coaching position being open.
The Tigers famed alum said the next hired will be great and even said school officials reached out to Nick Saban. Now, we know the ESPN College GameDay analyst is happy staying retired, but the rumors add to the intrigue.
Outside of football, O’Neal is assisting the basketball program with funding for arena renovations. A project in the works with a projected end date of late 2027.
More college basketball news:
- Rick Pitino reacts to St. John’s opening win
- Ohio State loses point guard commitment
- AJ Dybansta makes debut for BYU
- Jalen Rose on TNT college basketball coverage