Shareef seemed to handle it well, however, leading Crossroads School to a California state high school title in 2018 and earning a scholarship to UCLA. But his career in Westwood was stunted first by a medical condition and then by a coaching change, and on Wednesday, he announced his intention to transfer.

O’Neal’s freshman season in 2018 never got off the ground after doctors discovered that he had an anomalous coronary artery, a congenital heart defect that caused an artery to grow in the wrong place and required open-heart surgery to repair. Then, as he made his recovery and prepared to return to the court, the Bruins fired Steve Alford, the coach who had recruited him, and hired the defensively minded Mick Cronin. In high school, O’Neal’s defense was basically his 6-foot-9 frame. Not anymore.

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“I kind of had to do the research and I knew he was going to be heavy on defense, and I was like, ‘I need that,’ ” O’Neal said earlier this season. “I feel like in high school, I just wasn’t a good defender. I just kind of blocked everything when I had the chance. So, now being here, I’ve learned how to guard a point guard all the way down to the center position. I feel like that can help me a lot.”

O’Neal struggled to get on the court this season. His high point came Dec. 14, when he had eight points and 11 rebounds in a loss at Notre Dame. In five games since then, he has scored a total of four points and averaged just eight minutes per game. In Sunday’s win over California, O’Neal didn’t play at all, his fifth “DNP-Coach’s Decision” of the season. Cronin said O’Neal wasn’t ready to compete against the Golden Bears’ big men.

On Wednesday night, O’Neal acknowledged his shortcomings in a reply to rapper YG Addie.

O’Neal, the No. 41 recruit in 247 Sports’ composite rankings for the Class of 2018, originally committed to Arizona before switching to UCLA. According to 247′s Evan Daniels, his decision to transfer had been “rumored for weeks.” He will finish out the winter quarter in Westwood before deciding where to go, Daniels says.