You’re not having flashbacks. These basketball phenoms haven’t taken a time machine back to their baby-faced younger days. These are their sons who are now opening eyes, showing the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
Trent is the most advanced of this group of second-generation revelations, and could be better than his father, Gary Trent, who spent nine seasons in the NBA and was the three-time MAC Player of the Year in college at Ohio University. His son won’t be following his father’s mid-level college footsteps – he’s signed to play for Mike Krzyzewski at Duke next season and will compete in the prestigious McDonald’s All-American Game. A consensus five-star recruit and top-15-ranked prospect, who attends basketball factory Prolific Prep in California, the 6-foot-5 Trent is a knockdown shooter and perimeter player unlike his dad, who was an undersized power forward and nicknamed “The Shaq of the MAC” in his day.
From the Shaq of the Mac to just Shaq. Shareef doesn’t quite have his father Shaquille O’Neal’s enormous size, but the younger O’Neal is carving out his own legacy, developing into one of the nation’s top high school junior prospects. At 6-foot-9 and 200 pounds, he’s a gifted athlete, a skilled wing from Crossroads High School in California ranked among the top 20 players in his class. LSU, Arizona, USC and Baylor are some of the top programs to offer O’Neal a scholarship. He’s also become adept at dunking on people, which he learned from his dad.
Unlike O’Neal and Trent, Artest is relatively new to the basketball scene. He only took up the sport his freshman year of high school after dabbling in modeling at a young age. But he has shown an aptitude for the sport, starring at Beverly Hills High School in California. Artest, long and lanky like his dad Metta World Peace at 6-foot-7, recently faced O’Neal and held his own. A three-star recruit, Artest may need to attend prep school or junior college before reaching the Division I ranks.
He’s just 12 years old, but the King’s son already has scholarships offer from Duke and Kentucky and his highlight films on YouTube have generated more than one million views. Unlike his superstar dad, he wears No. 0, in homage to Russell Westbrook, his favorite player. But like his dad, he’s a willing passer, smooth in transition and physically superior to most kids his age.
One day, Manute Bol may be simply known as Bol Bol’s father. The son of the 7-foot-7 NBA pioneer is a dominant 17-year-old, one of the top-ranked juniors in the country at 7 feet tall. The five-star prospect recently transferred to California powerhouse Mater Dei Academy after leading İlbet Bishop Miege to the Kansas Class 4A-I title a year ago, and immediately made his presence felt, scoring 21 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks — in just 17 minutes. No wonder he holds scholarship offers from the likes of Arizona, Kansas, Creighton, Oklahoma and St. John’s.
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