Columbia legend Jermaine O’Neal finds new groove: Coaching a HS basketball team

Jermaine O’Neal didn’t hesitate when he got a phone call earlier this year from Gary Fulmer.

Fulmer, the Chick-fil-A Classic director, wanted to see if O’Neal and his Dynamic Prep school, located in Irving, Texas, would play in this year’s holiday basketball tournament. The annual event at River Bluff High School attracts some of the top teams and players in the country each year.

The Classic didn’t exist when O’Neal was a star at Eau Claire High School in Columbia in the 1990s, but he knew of the prestige that goes along with playing in the event.

“I come home every year, but it is different when you are suited into a coaching outfit. You are seeing a lot of community members that you have not seen in a long time,” O’Neal told The State. “It is good to be around the hometown people and get my kid, my team to see the area where I grew up.”

It was a successful return home for O’Neal, whose Dynamic Prep squad advanced to the National Bracket championship in its Classic debut.

O’Neal saw plenty of familiar faces before and after the team’s opener Thursday. O’Neal spent time talking with former Lower Richland standouts JoJo English and Joe Rhett about basketball in their high school and professional days.

Earlier in the day, he caught up with Junior Laurie, another former Eau Claire great, during the team’s shootaround at Gray Collegiate. Laurie is an assistant coach at Gray, while O’Neal is in his second season as head coach at Dynamic.

They talked about one of their biggest influences — George Glymph, their former Shamrocks coach who built the school into a state and national powerhouse. Glymph died in 2021 and O’Neal was one of the speakers at his funeral.

“Was talking to Junior and I understand everything the late great coach Glymph was doing,” O’Neal said. “The challenges are harder now. The kids have way more distractions — phones, etc. The teaching part is harder, but I still enjoy giving back to the kids in the community in a way that was given upon me. There is no way better to teach than to teach from experience.

“Hopefully, these kids will take it all in and use the tools and information to get themselves ready for the next level.”

From NBA to coaching

O’Neal, a former first-round NBA Draft pick, said coaching wasn’t on his radar when his 18-year pro career ended, but the interest has steadily grown. He founded the Drive Nation organization in the Dallas area, where he now lives. Drive Nation fields numerous travel basketball and volleyball teams and opened a state-of-the-art facility in 2018.

The building features six basketball and 10 volleyball courts, an indoor performance training area with a 10,000-square-foot weight room; a 50-yard, all-purpose turf playing surface; and a 55-yard speed track.

Then last year, O’Neal was a key factor in starting Dynamic Prep, which, according to the school’s website, “is a school focused on the complete development of the student athlete.”

Dynamic Prep competes in the Texas Christian Athletic League and won the Class 6A championship in the school’s first year.

Dynamic Prep uses the Drive Nation facility and its benefits but also offers “professionally prepared meals, and a top tier academic curriculum,” according to its website. Plans are in the works for a permanent school building, according to O’Neal.

O’Neal said the players spend three to four hours a day in a classroom-style setting but have seen the benefits of the shortened school day. He said the team boasts a 3.3 GPA and also has plenty of time to work on their basketball skills.

“It is true academy-style training. We want to make academics first but cut down the amount of time they are in the classroom. It has been amazing,” O’Neal said. “We have seen the academic part skyrocket for us, which is really, really important for us. ... It is going really well.

“It is hard. I didn’t necessarily want to be a coach, but I have a vision and have a bunch of investors who make sure I have hands into everything and put the money in the right places where we can development something that people could be proud of it.”

The next O’Neal

O’Neal said one of the hardest parts of the profession is coaching his son, Jermaine Jr., who is ranked in the top 150 for the Class of 2025 and has offers from Tennessee, Arkansas, Arizona State, SMU, Missouri and Vanderbilt. He has taken one visit to Texas and also visited South Carolina last summer when he came to Columbia for his father’s induction into the S.C. Athletic Hall of Fame.

The younger O’Neal said he didn’t enjoy basketball growing up and didn’t start playing the game until he was in the fifth grade.

“I think it is because my sister didn’t enjoy it and because my dad was always away. She got into volleyball and I got into different things like soccer,” O’Neal Jr. said. “But I have really gotten to enjoy and love playing the game of basketball.”

O’Neal Jr. said there are times he and his father butt heads on the court, but he knows his dad has his best interests for him.

“For the most part he is a good coach and he treats me like a pro, so I can’t get away with a lot of stuff. It is beneficial,” O’Neal Jr. said. “He is hard, a lot like a pro coach, doesn’t give us leeway. He is a tough coach but a good coach.”

O’Neal Jr. wears No. 7, the same one his father used during his NBA career. That idea came from his mother, he said.

The younger O’Neal’s game is a little different than his father’s. The 6-foot-5 junior is more of a wing player who shoots from the outside and loves driving to the basket. He had 19 points in Dynamic’s semifinal win over Dream Christian (Arizona).

“Reminds me of my progression at his age,” O’Neal Sr. said. “He is more of a perimeter player. His growth plate is still open. Don’t know what position he is going to play. But we want him to be be prepared to play any position on the next level.”

O’Neal Sr. said he wants to “find that balance where I am a benefit to my son’s life on and off the court. Making sure I am not a deficiency to him. He has done a good job on listening to me yell and scream. My job is prepare him to be ready for whatever university he steps foot on.”