Once John Calipari turned up the heat, Reed Sheppard was Kentucky bound
The writing was on the wall long before Reed Sheppard committed to the Kentucky Wildcats on Saturday morning.
His father Jeff needs little introduction to even the younger generations of the Big Blue Nation. His mother Stacey was equally special during her time as a hooper inside of Memorial Coliseum. His sister Madison stayed close to home and currently plays basketball at Campbellsville. Even his first-cousin Maci Morris, another familiar Kentucky native, is one of the all-time greats to come through the UK Women’s Basketball program.
Reed was born in Kentucky, raised in Kentucky, and seemingly destined to stay in Kentucky. He fulfilled that destiny on Saturday in front of his friends, family, and the London, KY community. But up until a few months ago, there were questions as to if it would ever even happen.
Sheppard announced himself to the entire state during the 2020-21 basketball season. He was a good player before then for North Laurel High School, but more so known as the son of Jeff Sheppard. Once his sophomore season began, he became much more than that. The younger Sheppard averaged over 30 points per game and led the Jaguars to a 25-3 record. He dropped multiple 50-point games and flashed impressive playmaking abilities.
But still, the interest from Kentucky was minimal. It wasn’t until Sheppard proved himself on the national stage against top competition that UK began to make a move.
Suiting up for Midwest Basketball Club on the AAU circuit this past summer, Sheppard established himself as one of the best players in the entire country. His numbers against an all-Kentucky schedule were no fluke–Sheppard was good enough to play for the ‘Cats at the highest level of college basketball.
Once the summer got rolling, Calipari turned up the heat
In June, Kentucky began to reach out more often. In July, Calipari and his staff offered Sheppard. In August, Sheppard was bumped to five-star status. In September, Calipari and Sheppard began to pay each other visits. In October, Sheppard was in Lexington for Big Blue Madness. A month later, he committed to UK.
For a kid with as many Kentucky connections as Reed Sheppard has, his decision to choose the ‘Cats might have felt predetermined. But that wasn’t exactly the case.
In the end, Sheppard cut his list down to three schools: Kentucky, Virginia, and Louisville. He was actually visiting UL the day before Big Blue Madness for a Cardinals practice. That Sunday, he and his dad drove up to Ohio State to complete a busy weekend. It wasn’t until the drive back down from Columbus that Sheppard knew in his heart and mind where he wanted to go.
“When we left Ohio State and we drove back, he talked for like an hour straight,” Jeff Sheppard said on Saturday. “He’s been my son for 17 years and he’s never talked consecutively for an hour about anything to me. During that time, I knew that he knew where he wanted to go. He was definitely talking about Kentucky. He had made his decision at that point.”
Big Blue Madness was over a month ago now. So why did Reed wait so long to announce if he already made up his mind? According to his father, it was to tie up loose ends; letting the process play out with the other schools involved so everyone fairly knew what was going on. But at the same time, Reed also wanted to get that unimaginably large weight off his back.
“When I knew that I was supposed to marry my wife, I asked her to marry me,” Jeff Sheppard added. “So it’s kinda like any decision. You go through your process; when you get done with your process and you know you’re supposed to make a decision, you make a decision. But he did want to get it done. He wanted to be able to get it off his mind and deal with it also publicly. Because he’s having to answer all of these questions without answering the question.”
Last Saturday, Reed broke the good news to Calipari: he was ready to be a Wildcat.
The Sheppards made the drive up to Lexington as a surprise visit. “Hanging out” in town is how the family tried to play it tight-lipped with the Kentucky staff. They all popped into Calipari’s office, where a befuddled head coach was not expecting a commitment from the in-state superstar.
“(Calipari) stood up and said ‘Come here son, give me a big hug!’ So it was really cool,” Jeff Sheppard said of the moment.
Reed kicks off what could be an all-time great recruiting group for Kentucky in the class of 2023. It’s appropriate, too, that he’s the perfect mix of what the BBN wants in a recruit: five-stars and from the Bluegrass State. Sheppard didn’t want to waste any more time fulfilling his destiny.
The writing was on the wall long before Reed even knew it.
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