Why did shaq play three years of college before going to the nba?

alot of people dont kno this but shaq didnt start playing basketball till he was in 2nd yr of highschool because his dad was a sgt. and did alot of traveling so he started at a late age jus because the coach saw how tall he was and tried to develop him into a player. so it was a good idea for him 2 stay in college ball for 3 yrs. to still develop his skills especially to play against the great centers of that time. david robinson, patrick ewing, and hakeem oljahwon. he would def. have more pts though and probably would b 2nd in pts but i dont think he would beat out kareem. and for rings i still think he would have 4 jus because he would still have to mature as a player