Me’Arah O’Neal announced Monday that she will transfer to Kentucky, giving the Wildcats another high-profile addition after their run to the Elite Eight. She posted a Bible verse on Instagram with the announcement, writing, “I give thanks to you that I was marvelously set apart. Your works are wonderful—I know that very well. (Psalms 139:14).”
O’Neal spent two seasons with Florida and just finished a 2025-26 campaign in which she averaged 13.6 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.4 blocks and 1.4 steals per game. Florida went 18-15 and did not make the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament, while Kentucky finished 25-11 and reached the Elite Eight before losing to Texas.
The move lands in a college sports landscape reshaped by NIL deals and the transfer portal, where rosters can turn quickly from one season to the next. Kentucky is trying to build on a March run that included wins over James Madison and West Virginia, and O’Neal arrives with a profile that fits that ambition.
Her father, Shaquille O’Neal, was selected No. 1 overall by the Orlando Magic in the 1992 draft after three seasons at LSU, and he said his daughter brings a different kind of game. “My baby is the best athlete in the family because she can do it all,” he said, adding that she is “the new pick-your-type player” because she can shoot, dribble and handle pressure.
For Kentucky, the transfer gives the program another versatile interior player after an Elite Eight season. For O’Neal, it is a chance to reset after Florida’s missed tournament bid and to do it at a school that spent much of March proving it can make a deep run.
