Kentucky commit Reed Sheppard wants to help Wildcats however he can, 'hopefully get a national championship'
It’s not often that the No. 36 player in a class of high school prospects is a college teams fifth-best signee, but in the case of Kentucky and legacy commit Reed Sheppard, that’s just the case. With the No. 2, No. 3, No. 4 and No. 10 prospects — according to the On3 Industry Ranking — also in the fold, Sheppard could be something of an afterthought.
But the son of a two-time national champion for the Wildcats mens team and a star for the womens team, Sheppard is ready to do whatever he can to help Kentucky win. And win on the biggest stage.
“Just a happy dude that’s going to do anything that he can to win. I’ll do whatever it takes, whatever the coaches tell me, whatever I need to do for my teammates. So just going to go in and do whatever I can to win and hopefully get a national championship,” Sheppard said in a sideline interview.
He was then asked an all-important question: Who is a better basketball player, mom or dad?
His dad, Jeff, is an all-time Wildcat basketball great. Along with two national championships with Kentucky, Jeff Sheppard earned most outstanding player at the 1998 Final Four. As an homage, Sheppard is wearing No. 15 — his dad’s number — at the McDonald’s All American Game.
His mom starred in basketball for the Wildcats, too, sitting in the top 10 for Kentucky in all-time made 3-pointers (175), assists (442), steals (309), field-goal attempts (1,318) and games started (110).
Sheppard did chose one over the other, and he was firm in his answer.
“I’m going to go with mom. A lot of people like to talk about dad. But I’ve got to go with mom on this one. I think she was a tougher player and I’ve got to go with my mom on this one,” Sheppard said.
Though he did give a bit of credit for his leaping ability to some paternal genetics.
“A lot of people say that, I guess I gotta give credit to dad. I guess that’s his gene,” Sheppard said.
He got to show off that leaping ability with an easy flush in transition.
Early in the third quarter, Sheppard read a pass perfectly from the middle of the paint and broke on it. He tipped it out past the East team point guard and was off to the races.
A simple two-handed flush gave the West squad a quick two points.