Reed Sheppard fights through pressure in King of the Bluegrass victory

North Laurel guard Reed Sheppard has felt and embraced the pressure since he was in the first grade. Being the son of two Kentucky basketball standouts in Jeff and Stacey Reed Sheppard, the London, KY product has been in the spotlight long before he emerged as a surefire five-star, top-25 talent.

That spotlight has certainly grown since then, though. Considerably.

King of the Bluegrass is known as one of the state’s top tournaments held annually at Fairdale High School. After missing last year due to COVID-19, North Laurel was able to rejoin the field in 2021, an opportunity the Jaguars were anxious to take advantage of — especially considering the effort it took to get there.

A win is a win

For starters, it was finals week for North Laurel. After a week of testing, the Jaguars then had to make the two-and-a-half-hour drive from London to Fairdale on Friday, check into the hotel, ride back to the tournament site, and then get ready for an opening-round matchup against Louisville Eastern.

“We came in, had a long day,” Sheppard told KSR after the game.

The Jaguars were able to pull off the victory, but it didn’t come easy — and it certainly wasn’t pretty. North Laurel only led Eastern 51-46 going into the fourth quarter, with the Eagles applying pressure and fighting to make Sheppard uncomfortable on every possession. The talent gap was made clear to close out the game — the Jaguars used a 21-10 fourth-quarter run to win 72-56 — but it was a performance that proved the team had to be better if it wanted to take home the tournament trophy. That includes improved play from Sheppard.

The Kentucky commit finished the day with 15 points on 7-15 shooting to go with 14 assists, eight rebounds, five steals and five blocks in North Laurel’s win. He did, however, add a game-high 11 turnovers.

A personal scouting report of his performance?

“Um, we won,” Sheppard told KSR. “… Louisville Eastern is a good team, really athletic and fast, kept a good pace the whole game. It’s always a good day when you get the win. We’ll have (Saturday) off, rest a little bit, get our bodies back, come back Sunday ready to play.”

A tough battle with Eastern

Eastern threw everything but the kitchen sink at Sheppard, face guarding and pushing to take the ball out of his hands. If the Eagles were going to lose, they wanted someone other than the future Wildcat to beat them.

Factor in the added attention with North Laurel’s long travel day, and it’s easy to see how Sheppard could get sloppy at times.

“Their pressure (contributed to the turnovers),” he told KSR. “Coming into it, like I said, we had a long day. That’s all credit to them, they got us playing a little faster than we needed to play at times, sped us up a little bit. We got overwhelmed a little bit. Not gonna lie, got pretty out of shape there for a second.

“That’s one thing coach told me, he said, ‘we’ve gotta get you in shape by Sunday.’ That was a big thing. Credit to Louisville Eastern.”

Handling the pressure

The five-star guard’s father admitted that the pressure got to his son a bit, but was proud of the way he fought through to secure the victory.

“He’s been pressured since he was in the first grade,” Jeff Sheppard said. “He just didn’t have a good night handling the pressure tonight, but it’s all right. He fought through it, got the win, and we move on.”

Part of the pressure came from a rowdy environment at Fairdale High School, specifically with the Eastern student section. The opposing fans hit Sheppard with “overrated” chants during pregame introductions and refused to slow down until the final buzzer.

North Laurel coach Nate Valentine warned the team before the game that the atmosphere would be difficult, but felt confident Sheppard would “keep (his) head.” He needed a few reminders, but for the most part, the future Wildcat stayed the course.

“(He told me to) keep my head,” Sheppard told KSR. “This atmosphere is crazy, it’s the best tournament in Kentucky, it’s the King of the Bluegrass. He was just saying ‘keep your mind’ because no matter what happens, everything else will work itself out. You’ll get your second wind back. If I’ve lost my mind, I’m out of it the whole game. He’s always about keeping my mind and staying calm.”

“A really great experience”

It’s part of the journey, especially playing in events like the King of the Bluegrass. With two years of high school to go before making his way to Lexington as a University of Kentucky student-athlete, now is the time to play through mistakes and grow as a player.

“Coach said it’d be a good environment, and you pull in, and it’s packed with nowhere to park,” Sheppard said. “That’s just with one game, the other two gyms weren’t even being used. The crowd was awesome, this was something we got invited to last year but couldn’t come because of COVID. This is a really great experience for us.”

“It’s the way it is, it’s fine,” Jeff Sheppard said of the chants and added pressure. “He’s doing a good job handling it. High school sports, the student sections, it’s a great atmosphere no matter where you go. You just enjoy every piece of it. At our home gym, we get it in our favor. That’s what makes it fun. Reed enjoys it. Every step of the way, you’ve just got to enjoy the ride.”

A 5×5 game for Sheppard

The focus was on Sheppard’s 11 turnovers, but let’s not forget the future Wildcat also added 15 points, 14 assists, eight rebounds, five steals and five blocks in a winning effort. The 6-foot-2 guard showed off unbelievable court vision and effortless passing to go with silky-smooth scoring at the rim and attention to detail on defense. Take away the turnovers, and it was a wildly impressive all-around display for the junior guard.

Fundamentally, Sheppard’s skills are clear as day. He’s polished as a shooter and scorer, knocking down tough shots and gliding through the air for difficult finishes at the rim. His ability to aggressively slice through defenders, but gently lay shots off the glass is second-to-none — and he’s able to do it with both hands.

If anything, many of his turnovers were the result of trying to make something out of nothing, attempting to fit passes in tight spaces for should-be scoring opportunities for his teammates. Of the 11 turnovers he was credited for, only a handful were egregious.

It was also one of the most complete defensive performances we’ve seen from Sheppard as of late, with the North Laurel standout swatting shots both at the rim and closer to the perimeter while also jumping the passing lanes for easy steals and scoring opportunities in transition. A combined 10 steals and blocks is worth acknowledging and celebrating.

All in all, not a perfect performance, but still quite solid. Through the mistakes, he clearly stood out as a Kentucky-level talent.

Big Blue Nation cheers on the future Wildcat

UK fans in the stands — and there were hundreds of them — felt the same way.

“It’s really cool, you walk in and hear ‘Go Big Blue,’ ‘Big Blue Nation,’ ‘Go Cats,’” Sheppard said of the crowd. “That’s something Kentucky fans are known for, they’re the best fans in the world. That’s what they do, they travel to see you play no matter where you are. Once you’re a Kentucky Wildcat, you’re a Kentucky Wildcat.”

Now committed to Kentucky, Sheppard no longer has to worry about college coaches in the stands or juggling recruiting visits. No more responding to phone calls and texts from a countless number of schools looking to earn his signature.

Now, it’s all about finishing out high school with a bang, and having fun while doing so.

“It’s been really fun,” the five-star guard’s father told KSR. “We’re enjoying high school basketball in Kentucky, it’s a lot of fun. Reed has played basketball with the guys he’s with since first or second grade, so after he committed to Kentucky, he just focused on his team and his season. … It’s all positive, all good.”

“Now you can go out there and play, relax and have fun with your friends,” the UK commit added.

Kentucky will come later — a year and a half from now, to be exact. Until then, though, it’s about taking care of business for North Laurel.

“It’s a win in a great tournament,” Jeff Sheppard told KSR. “This is a great field here, a lot of great teams. Whoever wins this tournament is a really good team. It’s going to be a fun weekend and a lot of good basketball.

“We’re going to have to play a whole lot better than we did tonight if we want to keep on advancing.”

A whole lot better than 15-14-8-5-5? Big Blue Nation will certainly take that.