The college basketball world fell in love with Reed Sheppard tonight
Kentucky fans have known about Reed Sheppard for almost a decade, if not longer. Tonight, the rest of the college basketball world met the son of Kentucky Basketball greats Stacey Reed and Jeff Sheppard in the Cats’ 95-73 rout of the No. 8 Miami Hurricanes, and they were enamored.
Reed was already off to a promising start before starting point guard DJ Wagner was injured in the first half. Leading the Cats in the second half, the freshman from Laurel County absolutely shined, finishing with 21 points (8-13 FG, 5-9 3PT), 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, a block, and a turnover in 30 minutes. Reed entered the night leading the country in plus/minus efficiency. That will certainly be the case tomorrow, as Kentucky outscored the Canes +35 with Reed on the floor.
“My best players that I’ve coached — and I’ve coached NBA MVPs you know — those players are even keel,” John Calipari said afterward. “They’ll get emotional about a play but they’re never up and down. Those guys, they just are like that. And that’s how [Reed] is.”
Calipari paid Sheppard the highest compliment, comparing his work ethic to that of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, one of Kentucky’s most successful alums in the NBA right now.
“He lives in that gym,” Cal said of Reed. “He works and he’s made himself kind of like Shai and some of these other kids that I’ve had. They build their own confidence. It’s not me saying, ‘You’re great’ or ‘You’re bad.’ It’s them.”
It was great to see Jay Bilas and the ESPN broadcast give special mention to not only Jeff, but Stacey, Reed’s mother, who ranks in the top ten of several Kentucky Women’s Basketball statistical categories and is still No. 1 in steals per game. Calipari has brought up Stacey several times when talking about Reed’s ball skills and defense in recent weeks. Tonight was no exception.
“I’m not joking when I say this: that’s Stacey. That’s who that is. Jeff wasn’t that way. Stacey was that way.”
Stacey and Reed is a story for another day — how about Thursday? — but until then, enjoy these national takes on Reed and Kentucky’s big night. We’ll start with a guy who coached his dad.
You just absolutely love to see it. Check out Reed and the rest of the Cats’ highlights below.
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