Shaquille O’Neal’s latest business move brings Big Chicken to Jackson State—and adds a permanent campus presence to his growing HBCU connection.
Shaq is bringing his growing restaurant empire somewhere it has never gone before: an HBCU campus.
Shaquille O’Neal’s Big Chicken is opening inside the Jackson State University Student Center, marking the fast-casual chain’s first location at a historically Black college or university and its first in Mississippi.
Jackson State held a ribbon-cutting ceremony and offered free samples to students and guests on Friday, September 18. The restaurant is scheduled to open fully to students and the public on Tuesday, September 22, according to local reporting.
The new location sits inside the Legacy Food Court at 1328 John R. Lynch Street, occupying the space previously used by Chick-fil-A. It was brought to campus through a partnership involving JSU Auxiliary Enterprises, JSU Dining Services, and SodexoMagic.
That makes this more than another celebrity-branded restaurant opening. Big Chicken has planted its first HBCU flag at one of the most visible institutions in the country—and at a university where O’Neal already has meaningful relationships.
Big Chicken makes HBCU history at Jackson State
Founded in 2018, Big Chicken blends O’Neal’s childhood food memories with a modern fast-casual menu. The company is backed by O’Neal, JRS Hospitality, Authentic Brands Group, and Craveworthy Brands.
Its menu includes crispy chicken sandwiches, tenders, wings, salads, signature sides, and hand-crafted milkshakes. The company describes the concept as a reflection of O’Neal’s personality, with menu items and flavors connected to people and stories from his life.
At Jackson State, however, the significance extends beyond the menu.
Big Chicken senior vice president Samuel Stanovich told WAPT that education is important to O’Neal and his family. He described the restaurant’s role as feeding students while helping motivate the next generation to study and work hard.
The location is also open to the general public, potentially bringing more visitors into the heart of Jackson State’s campus. For JSU students, it introduces a new dining option with a national celebrity name attached. For Big Chicken, it creates a foothold inside the HBCU community rather than simply marketing toward it from the outside.
Shaq’s Jackson State connection runs through Mo Williams
The choice of Jackson State is no random occurrence either.
O’Neal has a longstanding friendship with Jackson State men’s basketball coach Mo Williams. The two were teammates with the Cleveland Cavaliers during the 2009-10 NBA season, near the end of O’Neal’s Hall of Fame playing career.
That relationship has followed Williams into the HBCU coaching ranks. O’Neal attended the 2025 SWAC Basketball Tournament in Atlanta, where he supported both his son, then-Florida A&M forward Shaqir O’Neal, and Williams’ Jackson State program.
The appearance placed Shaq in the middle of the HBCU basketball atmosphere he has repeatedly praised: the bands, cheerleaders, DJs, fans, and culture surrounding the games.
Now his connection to Jackson State is no longer limited to a tournament appearance or friendship with its head coach. One of his most recognizable business ventures has a permanent place on campus.
O’Neal’s HBCU ties reach beyond Jackson State
Although Shaq played college basketball at LSU, his HBCU connection is deeper than many fans initially realized.
During a 2025 episode of The Big Podcast with Shaq, O’Neal revealed that he completed summer coursework at Southern University while working toward the LSU degree he had promised his mother and former coach Dale Brown he would finish.
“It was an HBCU that helped me graduate from LSU,” O’Neal said during the podcast. “I’ve always been a big supporter.”
O’Neal ultimately earned his bachelor’s degree from LSU in 2000. But he said his time at Southern left an impression, later admitting that the atmosphere sometimes made him wish he had attended an HBCU.
His family’s relationship with HBCU basketball continued through Shaqir, who originally committed to Texas Southern in 2021 before transferring to Florida A&M in 2024. Shaqir later moved to Sacramento State, where his father became the men’s basketball program’s general manager.
The elder O’Neal has also consistently used his platform to amplify HBCUs, whether through campus appearances, nationally televised apparel moments, or business conversations involving Black colleges.
More than a celebrity appearance
Celebrity support for HBCUs is often temporary: a sideline visit, a social media post, or a one-night appearance. The Jackson State opening represents something more tangible.
Big Chicken is entering the daily life of the university. Students will pass it between classes, meet there for lunch, and make it part of their campus routine. At the same time, the public-facing location gives the surrounding Jackson community another reason to enter the Student Center and engage with the university.
For O’Neal, it connects multiple pieces of his post-basketball identity: entrepreneur, education advocate, HBCU supporter, and friend of Jackson State’s head basketball coach.
The result is a milestone for the company and the university. Big Chicken has entered Mississippi for the first time, Jackson State has landed another high-profile campus partnership, and Shaq’s relationship with HBCUs now includes a brick-and-mortar investment at one of the culture’s best-known institutions.
This time, Shaq is not simply showing up for an HBCU.
He is setting up shop at one.
Source: HBCU Gameday
