Collectors love trading cards, but there is no shortage of individual cards for modern players. Not so though for a player’s campus card. If it still exists – and isn’t tucked away in his or her personal possessions – there is likely just one.

That is why Shaquille O'Neal’s Louisiana State University ID card is expected to fetch thousands at auction.

A card office staff member in Baton Rouge printed the card and personally gave it to Shaq when he was an 18-year-old freshman.

Goldin, an online auction website owned by eBay, is selling the signed card. It has been authenticated by the industry standard Professional Sports Authenticator service (PSA).

Think about it.

A card office staff member in Baton Rouge printed the card and personally gave it to Shaq when he was an 18-year-old freshman. Many of our offices have done the same, creating cards for now-famous alums.

The starting bid for the campus card was $5,000, but it is expected to go far higher.

According to an article at k945, a previous owner of the card offered it on eBay for $29,999. “It seems the item was delisted so the real purchase price remains a mystery,” the writer says.

Shaq played college basketball at LSU from 1989 to 1992. He was a two-time All-American, SEC Player of the Year, and the recipient of the 1991 Adolph Rupp Trophy as the NCAA’s top men’s basketball player. He left LSU early for the NBA but remains one of the school’s most celebrated athletes. Selected first overall in the 1992 NBA Draft by the Orlando Magic, he went on to have a Hall of Fame career.

If you’d like to own this piece of basketball – and campus card – history, the bidding goes until August 9 at the Goldin site.