‘Perfect storm’ led to quadruple-double for son of former Kentucky stars
In case you didn’t know, the son of former University of Kentucky players Stacey Reed and Jeff Sheppard recently scaled an all-but-impenetrable basketball mountain. Reed Sheppard posted a quadruple-double.
His 24 points, 10 rebounds, 14 assists and 10 steals helped North Laurel High School defeat Jackson County 82-34 on Jan. 20.
For perspective, there has only been one quadruple-double in the history of Division I college basketball. UT Martin’s Lester Hudson had 25 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists and 10 steals in a victory over Central Baptist College on Nov. 13, 2007.
Only four NBA players have recorded quadruple-doubles: Nate Thurmond, Alvin Robertson, Hakeem Olajuwon and David Robinson. Although it should be noted that prior to the 1973-74 season, the NBA did not consider blocks as an official statistic. So, perhaps, Wilt Chamberlain might have had a few quadruple-doubles.
Despite this scarcity of quadruple-doubles, North Laurel Coach Nate Valentine’s reaction to Sheppard’s double-digits-times-four performance was not through the roof.
“It’s crazy to say, but he’s capable of doing that almost every night,” said Valentine, who pointed out how his freshman point guard can impact games on both ends. “When they said he had a quadruple-double, you’re not shocked.”
Sheppard’s parents attended the game. They were not aware of what their son accomplished until they saw a final box score.
“I knew that he was having a good game,” Jeff Sheppard said. “But I didn’t realize he was close to a quadruple-double. Or even a triple-double.”
Valentine knew. Despite the blowout, the North Laurel coach returned Sheppard to the court in the fourth quarter.
“I told him, ‘You’ve got two minutes to try to get those two rebounds’” to complete the quadruple-double, he said. Sheppard got them.
The game was “a perfect storm” for stuffing a stat line in this way, Jeff Sheppard said. North Laurel shot well, “so assists seemed to be coming pretty easy,” the former UK player said.
Plus, North Laurel’s press caused multiple turnovers, so steals were there almost for the taking.
Jeff Sheppard said his son plays more like Stacey, who was a point guard on UK’s women’s team. Sheppard, who was the Most Outstanding Player of the 1998 Final Four, was more of an off guard.
When asked which parent’s game was reflected more in Sheppard’s game, Valentine quipped, “If we could get him a little meaner like his mom, he might be a little better player. But he’s getting there. He’s maturing.”
More seriously, Valentine credited the parents for making Sheppard coachable. Jeff and Stacey coached his travel team for several years. By Valentine’s reckoning, mom and dad practiced the tough love brand of coaching.
“They stayed on him pretty hard,” Valentine said. “They held him accountable. He can score 30 and have 10 assists and have a quadruple-double and all that. And his mom will get into him for letting his man score when we’re up by 40.
“They stay on him pretty good.”
Speaking of always being ready to snuff out complacency, it’s easy to imagine UK Coach John Calipari’s reaction being something like: Quadruple-double? Why didn’t you get a quintuple-double?!
Coincidentally, when asked how — or if — the family celebrated the quadruple-double, Jeff Sheppard chuckled as he said, “Not really.”
As of mid-week, Sheppard led North Laurel in scoring (19.5 points). He also averaged six rebounds and six assists. Another freshman, his cousin Ryan Davidson, was the team’s second-leading scorer (16.0 points).
Sheppard started for North Laurel as an eighth-grader last season. He has already scored 1,000 points in his high school career.
Might the younger Sheppard, who is already 6-foot-3, someday follow his parents’ footsteps and play for UK?
The recruiting whirl is not a preoccupation for the family.
“We’re really concerned about him enjoying his high school experience right now,” Jeff Sheppard said. “Those are days that will come, and we’ll see how things play out. At this point, it’s just way, way too early to know about any of that.”
Academics a drag?
With Kentucky playing at Vanderbilt on Tuesday, something former Commodores coach Bryce Drew said before the teams’ first game sticks in the mind.
Basketball success is more difficult to achieve at a so-called academic school, he said.
To support this contention, Drew cited how Northwestern had played in one NCAA Tournament in the last six years, Stanford one in the last 11 years, California one in the last six years, Georgia Tech and Wake Forest each one in the last nine years and Boston College none in the last 10 years.
Counting Vanderbilt, only Stanford (16-6) had a winning record this season among those seven schools going into this weekend. And only Stanford (No. 27) had a NET rating in the top 75. Northwestern (154), Wake Forest (104), California (147), Boston College (146) and Vanderbilt (149) were outside the top 100.
Of course, Duke is a glaring exception. Going into this weekend, the Blue Devils had a record of 19-3 and were No. 6 in the NET ratings.
Streak ends
Vandy’s 99-90 victory over LSU on Wednesday ended the Commodores’ record losing streak of 26 straight SEC regular-season games.
For comparison sake, that’s longer than the Big 12 record (19 straight by Baylor from 2004 to 2006) and equals the ACC record (Clemson 26 straight in 1954-56).
The Pac-12 record is 30 straight by UCLA (1937-40).
The Big Ten record is 32 straight (shared by Northwestern in 1999-2001 and Rutgers in 2015 and 2016). Although the records are fuzzy, Chicago is believed to have lost 56 straight Big Ten games in the 1940s.
Championship odds
The gambling website BetOnline.com updated its odds for what team will win the 2020 NCAA Tournament on Tuesday.
Duke is the new favorite at 8-1. The Blue Devils had been a second choice at 10-1 a month earlier.
Gonzaga remains a second choice at 9-1, a slight improvement from 10-1 in early January.
The odds of Kentucky winning the national championship lengthened from 12-1 to 20-1.
Louisville and Kansas join Gonzaga as second choices at 9-1. A month ago Kansas was the favorite to win it at 8-1.
Mississippi State is a long shot at 250-1. Coincidentally, BetOnline.com put the same 250-1 odds on Evansville winning the NCAA Tournament.
‘Dog days’
ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi said he has a term for this time of the college basketball season.
“I call them the dog days of February,” he said. “You can’t see the beginning or the end.”
Actor’s night
Ole Miss’ 84-70 home victory over South Carolina last week came on a night the school honored actor Morgan Freeman. The actor, who was born in Memphis, is an Ole Miss fan and regularly sits courtside at home games.
As part of the Morgan Freeman Night festivities, there were Morgan Freeman bobblehead dolls and Ole Miss players wore warm-up shirts with “M. Freeman” on the back.
Happy birthday
To UK recruit Lance Ware (class of 2020). He turned 19 on Saturday. … To Henry Thomas. He turned 49 on Saturday. … To Winston Bennett. He turns 55 on Sunday (today). … To John Calipari. The UK coach turns 61 on Monday. … To Leroy Byrd. He turns 57 on Tuesday. … To Andy Dumstorf (the UK student worker in the sports information office fired for being a Louisville fan). He turns 56 on Tuesday. … To Josh Harrellson. He turns 31 on Wednesday. … To Hall of Famer Bill Russell. He turns 86 on Wednesday.
This story was originally published February 8, 2020 at 9:55 AM.
