Where Reed Sheppard stands in national recruiting rankings

As the summer continues along, recruiting services big and small are updating their databases and rankings of high school prospects. The last few months have been the first time in over a year that a lot of media members and basketball enthusiasts have been able to watch the country’s top hoopers, so there’s plenty of catching up to do.

ESPN dropped its updated top 60 for the class of 2023 on Wednesday while 247 Sports did the same for its class of 2022 prospects. There were plenty of big movers that Kentucky fans should keep their eye on, including Dereck Lively II’s explosion from a four-star recruit to No. 3 overall in the country and Jalen Duren skipping over Emoni Bates for the top spot, both of which were updated by 247 Sports. But looking over at ESPN’s update for the class of 2023, one notable name was left off the list: North Laurel’s Reed Sheppard.

The son of University of Kentucky legends Jeff and Stacey, Reed has been the talk of the town since this past basketball season began. Since then, he’s continued to develop his game and is quickly turning into one of the best high school players in the country. 247 Sports updated their class of 2023 rankings back in May, bumping Sheppard up to three-star status and the 65th best player in his class. Rivals, following its recent 2023 update a couple of weeks ago, now has Sheppard as a four-star and the 39th best player in his class.

ESPN, on the other hand, did not slot Sheppard among the top 60 rising high school juniors, rather going with 6-foot-2 guard George Washington III from the Christian Academy of Louisville as the representative from the Bluegrass State.

Washington III came in ranked as the 38th best player in his class by the worldwide leader. He’s also nationally ranked by both 247 Sports (74th) and Rivals (83rd). Another high schooler from Kentucky, Male’s Kaleb Glenn, was also not ranked by ESPN despite also holding national rankings from 247 Sports (44th) and Rivals (66th).

There is no consensus evaluation on any of these three kids right now.

Reed Sheppard (North Laurel)

ESPN: N/R
247 Sports: 65
Rivals: 39

George Washington III (CAL)

ESPN: 38
247 Sports: 74
Rivals: 83

Kaleb Glenn (Male)

ESPN: N/R
247 Sports: 44
Rivals: 66

The rankings will likely even out a bit more as scouts and recruiting services continue to learn about these soon-to-be juniors over the next several months, but one thing is for sure, Kentucky’s class of 2023 has plenty of Power 5 talent coming out of it.