What does the Louisville game mean to Reed Sheppard? For him, this is a family thing.
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Preview: No. 9 Kentucky at Louisville
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Even on the biggest of college basketball stages and heading into battles with heated rivals, players often resort to the “just another game” cliche when talking about what’s next.
Reed Sheppard, always measured with his words, didn’t go that route Wednesday morning. The inflection in his voice when asked about the next day’s renewal of the Kentucky-Louisville rivalry — his first such game as a Wildcat — made clear that this is not just another game.
“It means a lot,” Sheppard said. “Growing up, I’ve always watched Louisville-Kentucky. It’s always been a big game. It’s always been a fun game to watch. The crowd is into it. Both teams play really hard — you gotta respect the game. It’s such a big, big rival. So I’m looking forward to going up, especially playing at Louisville. The fans will be into it. They’re gonna be playing good. Everyone’s gonna be fighting to win, so it’s gonna be a really fun game and atmosphere.”
For Sheppard, this is a family thing.
The UK freshman might be playing in his first edition of the rivalry Thursday night in the Yum Center, but he’s long known what “Cats vs. Cards” means to people around these parts. Everyone knows where he comes from. His father, Jeff Sheppard, and mother, Stacey Reed Sheppard, were both UK basketball stars in the 1990s. Dad is from Georgia, but it didn’t take long to learn what the annual Louisville game meant to basketball fans in the commonwealth. Mom, like son, is from Laurel County, where Jeff and Stacey settled to raise their two kids after their playing days were finished.
Those basketball careers included some heated games against the hated Cardinals.
Jeff Sheppard was 2-2 as a player during the rivalry. His experience vs. Louisville was a mixed bag. He didn’t score — and attempted just three shots — while playing 18 total minutes against the Cardinals in UK’s two wins with him on the court, and he sat out as a redshirt during the 1996-97 season, when the Cats won by 20 in Freedom Hall.
In Jeff’s other two games in the series, he scored 19 points in an 88-86 loss at Freedom Hall and had a team-high 18 points in a 79-76 defeat in Rupp. Of course, after that latter game, Sheppard ultimately led the Cats to the 1998 NCAA title, earning Final Four most outstanding player honors in the process.
Stacey Reed — as she was known during her time as a Wildcat — fared better against UK’s biggest rival.
The ultra-competitive Kentucky kid went 3-1 vs the Cardinals, scoring in double figures all four games and making some big plays against U of L throughout her college career.
She put up 10 points in an 81-73 win as a freshman. She scored a game-high 14 points in a narrow 58-53 win as a sophomore, coming up with big steals and buckets down the stretch, going 6-for-6 on free throws, including a few at the end to ice the victory.
“She’s aggressive and she’s a competitor,” UK coach Sharon Fanning said after that one. “She’s just a winner.”
The next season, Stacey tallied 11 points and team highs with eight rebounds and seven assists as the Wildcats turned a one-point halftime lead into a 95-62 rout.
Her final game against Louisville ended up being her only loss to the Cardinals — 77-76 in overtime. But even in defeat, she was spectacular, going for 26 points, 11 rebounds and five assists, making 10 of 18 shots. Her own 8-0 run in the second half tied the game at 57-all. Her three-point play with 14.5 seconds left forced the overtime, where U of L won on a buzzer-beater. Reed led the Cats with 13.8 points and 6.8 rebounds per game that season.
Now, young Reed is one of Kentucky’s best players, and he’ll finally get to step on the court against the Cardinals on Thursday night. He said Wednesday that his parents haven’t really talked about their own experiences in the rivalry, but it’s a game that has been a part of his basketball life for as long as he can recall.
“I just remember always watching ’em growing up,” he said. “No matter where we were, we were watching Kentucky vs. Louisville.”
Sheppard said he attended most of the rivalry games in Rupp Arena as a kid, but he never saw the Cats compete in Freedom Hall or the Yum Center, where Thursday’s game will be played. Perhaps the most optimistic of Louisville fans thought for a time that he might actually get into this game on their side of the rivalry. Former U of L coach Chris Mack extended a scholarship offer to the in-state star and hosted him on recruiting visits to Louisville.
Was there ever a time when Sheppard seriously pictured himself wearing the red and black?
“Eh … I mean,” the always-diplomatic Sheppard replied before deciding what to say next. The tone, which elicited some chuckles, relayed that, no, he was never going to be a Cardinal.
“I was always coming to Kentucky,” the 19-year-old said. “I enjoyed the process. I enjoyed visiting there and being able to go see the coaches and watch the team practice. They have a really nice facility, nice coaches — it’s a really good school.
“I know Kentucky people don’t really like Louisville, but Louisville is still a really nice school, and they have a really good thing going over there.”
Obviously, the tradition of the Cardinals is rich, but the current status of Louisville basketball is ... not great. Coach Kenny Payne will bring his Cards into this one with a 5-6 record, losses to lowly rated opponents like Arkansas State, Chattanooga and DePaul, and amid continued calls for Payne — the former longtime UK assistant coach — to lose his job.
Sheppard noted, however, that the Cardinals took No. 19-ranked Texas to the wire, losing 81-80 — “Should have beat Texas,” he said — and the UK freshman expects to get Louisville’s best shot Thursday night. The U of L roster also features several formerly top-rated recruits, so there will be some talent on the other side of the ball.
“They’re super aggressive,” Sheppard said. “They’ve got good guards that are getting to the basket, no matter what. They’re not going to let anything stop them from getting to the basket and getting to the foul line. So we gotta be sure to just guard our man and just try not to put them on the line. But they’re all really, really good players, and they’re just going to keep getting better and better every game they play. And they’re going to be super-pumped to come out and play us. And the crowd’s gonna be loud. It’s gonna be a fun game.”
This story was originally published December 20, 2023 at 1:01 PM.
