Editor’s note: As the World Cup continues in the United States for the first time since 1994, The Athletic is looking back at college sports in the 1990s and how much has changed since then.Everyone who saw Shaquille O’Neal from that night forward would have some actual game film to go on, which would serve as a tool for both scouting and demythologization — see, he’s just a 7-foot-1, 286-pound freshman, not a fire-breathing dragon in LA Gear sneakers.But the first poor sap who had to battle O’Neal in the post, while his Southern Miss teammates dealt with LSU stars Chris Jackson and Stanley Roberts, had one opportunity to watch O’Neal play before Nov. 15, 1989, in Baton Rouge, La. He hadn’t caught the McDonald’s All-American Boys Game on TV a few months earlier. He didn’t see O’Neal collect 18 points, 16 rebounds, six blocks and co-MVP honors.His first actual glimpse of O’Neal came from across the court as O’Neal entered the arena. O’Neal had to duck his head as he exited the tunnel. The response from the 6-6, 230-pound man who would soon be face-to-face with him?“Whoa. That’s dangerous.”Another thing about that man: He would eventually be a top-10 NBA Draft pick, going No. 9 in 1992 to the Philadelphia 76ers — less than an hour after the Orlando Magic took O’Neal at No. 1. But on this night, Clarence Weatherspoon was a little-known sophomore forward playing for a team that was paid to show up and be part of a coronation. Dale Brown’s preseason No. 2-ranked Tigers were finally unveiling the big fella.Weatherspoon and the physically outmatched opponents who followed in the final weeks of the calendar year actually acquitted themselves quite well. One of them was later inducted into his alma mater’s athletics hall of fame, and his bio lists the modest stats O’Neal put up against him.It was good to get O’Neal early — before he became “Shaq,” one of the greatest players of all time and perhaps the most imposing, a four-time NBA champion, a three-time Finals MVP, who weighed more than 400 pounds at times during his pro career but never stopped dunking on people.As a highly hyped freshman out of San Antonio, Texas, he looked skinny at 286 on opening night. Skinny, foul-prone and not impossible to keep out of the lane. When M.K. Turk’s Golden Eagles switched out of zone and into man, 6-11 center Daron Jenkins guarded sophomore Roberts (who was listed at 7-0, 288) and the muscled Weatherspoon kept his elbow in O’Neal’s back and his center of gravity as low as possible.“Just trying to keep a body on him, doing whatever I could do against one of the biggest humans I’d ever done seen,” said Weatherspoon, who would lead the Golden Eagles to an NCAA Tournament bid that season and later enjoy a 13-year NBA career.