Kentucky Wildcats: Reed Sheppard has no choice but to pursue his NBA career because…

 Reed Sheppard has no choice but to pursue his NBA career because…

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reed Sheppard has taken the first step toward deciding what will happen next in his short basketball career.

Sheppard, last year’s Kentucky Mr. Basketball and a fan favorite for the Wildcats this season, will join the NBA draft in 2024, but he has not ruled out returning to Lexington to play for new coach Mark Pope in 2024-25.

The 6-foot-3 guard from London was a surprise star in his debut season with the Cats, winning national rookie of the year honors from the USBWA and being selected SEC freshman of the year by league coaches.

Sheppard averaged 12.5 points, 4.1 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 2.5 steals, leading UK in the latter two categories, while his 28.9 minutes per game ranked third on the team, trailing only fifth-year players Antonio Reeves and Tre Mitchell. Sheppard and Reeves were the only two players who appeared in all 33 of Kentucky’s games this season.

Pope, who was appointed last week to succeed John Calipari as Kentucky’s coach, was college roommates with Reed’s father, Jeff Sheppard, a friendship that fueled some UK supporters’ hopes that the Wildcat might return to Lexington for a second season, although such a move was always deemed unlikely.

Jeff Sheppard was thrilled with Pope’s hiring, but he told the Herald-Leader last week that he was unsure how it would effect Reed’s decision.

“It’s a good question,” Sheppard commented before the UK formally confirmed Pope as their new coach. “You know, Mark has been my friend for a long time. I haven’t had much of a conversation with Reed about that. He’s trying to gather knowledge in order to really understand where he is. There’s certainly a lot of talk. However, with such a decision, you cannot simply listen to a brief discussion. You definitely need to gather concrete information. So, we feel like we’re going through the appropriate process.