Less than 24 hours after news broke that the FBI had wiretapped a phone conversation in which Arizona Wildcats coach Sean Miller discussed paying $100,000 to land DeAndre Ayton, the program felt the scandal on the recruiting trail.

247Sports four-star power forward Shareef O'Neal, the son of NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal, announced his decommitment from the program via social media Saturday, citing the report as the reason for his decision:

The 6-foot-9, 204-pound big man, out of Crossroads School (Los Angeles, California), is rated the nation's No. 33 prospect and the No. 9 power forward, and immediately becomes one of the top players still available in the class of 2018.

Locally, the news is not only significant because it hurts a conference foe of both the Oregon Ducks and Oregon State Beavers, but also because O'Neal has strong ties to Oregon's current 2018 recruiting class.

The Oregon recruiting class, which ranks No. 2 in the country, is headlined by consensus five-star prospect Bol Bol, who played alongside O'Neal for the California Supreme, an elite A.A.U. program.

Upon hearing the news of O'Neal's decommitment, Bol immediately sent the fellow big man a message over social media.

"Join me," he wrote.

Oregon's current four-man class consists of Bol, five-star small forward Louis King, elite four-star point guard Will Richardson and four-star power forward Miles Norris, but the Ducks still have a scholarship available.

Will Oregon swoop in as a major contender for O'Neal?

Bol is certainly doing his part early.

Bol Bol and Shareef O'Neal's Cal Supreme highlights

-- Andrew Nemec

anemec@oregonian.com

@AndrewNemec