Courtesy New York Times

(May 20, 2009) Shaquille O’Neal has starred in everything from rap videos to video games. He has filmed, by his own count, about 250 television commercials over the past 10 years. He has completed enough postgame interviews on TNT to have critiqued nearly all of Craig Sager’s purple suits.

Still, O’Neal found himself at Syracuse University on Tuesday, celebrating the successful completion of a mock four-minute interview as if it were a playoff buzzer beater.

“Bam,” he screamed, pointing at a computer monitor. “Exactly four minutes.”

The 37-year-old O’Neal insists he will play four more N.B.A. seasons, but he plans on having his own radio and television shows after retirement. He envisions something similar to HBO’s “Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel.”

That was why he found himself in broadcast hot seats across the Syracuse campus this week in an intriguing role reversal — conducting interviews instead of giving them.

O’Neal’s three-day broadcast boot camp at Syracuse is a spinoff of the second-year program that the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications runs in concert with the N.B.A.’s players association for players interested in pursuing broadcasting after their careers. Players pay $5,200 for the program, which is known as Sportscaster U. But because O’Neal wanted his own private session, he had to fork over more than $15,000.

“You have to know what you’re doing,” O’Neal said of the basics of broadcasting. “There are a lot of guys who are great speakers, but it doesn’t come off that way unless you have all the other elements. I needed to learn the secrets.”

O’Neal has two full-time teachers here to unlock the secrets, the adjunct professors Matt Park and Dave Ryan. Park is the play-by-play voice for Syracuse football and basketball, and Ryan is a jack-of-all trades play-by-play man for ESPN. Both are graduates of Syracuse’s broadcast program, which has produced Bob Costas, Marv Albert, Dick Stockton, Mike Tirico and Sean McDonough.

Park and Ryan agreed that O’Neal, a likely Hall of Fame center now with the Phoenix Suns, was an eager student and a quick learner. Ryan called him “the best possible student that I can imagine.”

Considering that O’Neal could coax a hefty contract out of any network without learning the basics of broadcasting, it was impressive that he even showed up. But O’Neal said he wanted to learn things the right way.

“The fact that he did this instead of just calling and exerting his influence on a network, I think speaks volumes toward his professionalism,” Park said.

O’Neal’s basic goal heading into the program was counteracting what he considered his most glaring broadcast deficiencies — voice fluctuation and nerves. O’Neal has always spoken in a monotone, so Park and Ryan grilled him on how and when to stress words.

“Enunciation, diction, all that stuff,” O’Neal said. “None of that is in my personality.”

O’Neal said that learning the broadcasting basics had also calmed his nerves. He has learned that preparation can make the butterflies disappear.

“More than anything, you get a newfound respect for television and the nuances of putting it together,” said Eric Snow, who took the program last summer and is now an analyst with NBA TV. “You learn from every perspective, behind the scenes and on the scene.”

O’Neal’s training over the past three days ranged from 15-second spots to a long-form, stand-up mock television preview of Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals. On Tuesday, Park taught O’Neal that every good radio interview has a beginning, middle and end, reminding him to “reset” the interview midway and have exit cues.

“Know the end before you start,” Park said.

“Ohhhh,” O’Neal said, repeating the advice. “I like that.”

He has also been tutored on the intricacies of interviewing. “Don’t ask three questions at once,” Ryan advised, saying that simple statements should be followed with questions like “Why?” or “How?” to guide the interviewee.

The program was light on notes and lectures and emphasized on-the-job training. O’Neal did a television interview with Greg Paulus, the new Syracuse quarterback and former Duke point guard. O’Neal also did a mock radio spot with Stephen Curry before the N.B.A. draft lottery.

Throughout the interviews on Tuesday, O’Neal’s gregarious personality shone through. Talking with Tirico before grilling him on Tirico’s radio show, O’Neal warned Tirico not to use the “SHAM” method.

“That’s the short answer method,” O’Neal said of a tactic he often used with reporters. “I invented that method.”

O’Neal told Tirico that via the “transitive property,” he had learned from him because Tirico had been a mentor for Ryan and Park. O’Neal showed his softer side in asking Leo Rautins, a former Syracuse star and current Toronto Raptors analyst, if he pressured any of his four boys into playing basketball. He showed the expanse of his basketball depth by dropping John Wooden’s name.

O’Neal said that before taking on a complex role like the one Gumbel has on HBO, he would like to start his broadcasting career on a show similar to ESPN’s “First Take.”

“I love Bryant Gumbel, I like guys that are very intelligent,” O’Neal said. “I love guys with beautiful voices. I love guys with personalities. I love guys who know what they’re talking about. I can’t understand how Skip Bayless can make a comment about Tim Duncan. My question is, How do you know?”