Kentucky basketball star Reed Sheppard makes his debut in the national rankings
North Laurel basketball star Reed Sheppard is now a nationally ranked recruit.
Sheppard — a 6-foot-3 sophomore combo guard — was installed as the No. 65 overall prospect in the class of 2023 by 247Sports, which updated and expanded its rankings Wednesday.
The son of two former UK basketball stars — Jeff Sheppard and Stacey Reed — Sheppard has taken Kentucky high school basketball by storm this season. Going into this week, he was averaging 32.1 points and 7.4 rebounds per game while leading North Laurel to a 19-2 record. Sheppard is shooting 38.8 percent from three-point range and 88.0 percent on free throws, and he’s logged multiple triple-doubles this season.
Sheppard still has two more years of high school — and two more summers on the AAU circuit — ahead of him, but he’s already building a national profile that has come with increased interest from major colleges.
Iowa was the first Power Five program to extend a scholarship offer, which came earlier this season, and Kentucky, Louisville and Indiana are among the other schools that have expressed early interest in his recruitment.
His lofty national ranking is an anomaly for a Kentucky high school basketball player.
In the past 10 years, only two other Kentucky high school players (who were actually from the state) have ended their careers in the top 75 of the 247Sports composite rankings: Quentin Snider (No. 37 in 2014) and Ray Spalding (No. 42 in 2015). Both of those players ultimately signed with hometown Louisville.
Sheppard has so far built his reputation while playing largely against Kentucky competition. Recruiting analysts are eager to see him compete against peers at a national level, however, and he’ll get that chance soon.
This spring, Sheppard is planning to play for Cincinnati-based Midwest Basketball, a program that is expected to compete at the top level of the Adidas travel circuit.
247Sports analyst Travis Branham scouted Sheppard last week and told the Herald-Leader that he “definitely fits the part of a top-75 prospect” right now but noted that he’s already pretty far along in his basketball development, compared to other prospects his age. That could give other “higher ceiling” players a chance to catch up to Sheppard in the coming years.
Of course, Sheppard could improve his own game, as well, and coaches and scouts will get an even better feel for his capabilities once the national travel season begins next month.
“And maybe he’s better than what he’s shown so far,” Branham said. “Maybe there’s more to his game that is going to be illuminated as he plays better competition. Because your game is going to have to adjust depending on the level of competition. Maybe there are things that he does better than we’ve given him credit for so far.”
If Sheppard can hold his top 75 ranking over the next two years, he might have some local company in that lofty territory.
Male High School wing Kaleb Glenn is No. 44 in the new 247Sports rankings, which expanded from 50 players to 75 with this latest update. (Glenn was No. 43 on the previous list).
Louisville high school basketball teams got off to a late start to the season, but Glenn has put up terrific numbers — averaging 23.1 points and 13.7 rebounds over his first seven games — for the team that was favored to win last year’s state tournament and came into the 2020-21 campaign with the No. 1 ranking in the state.
“This kid, I’m telling you, he’s going to be a top-10, top-20 player in the country,” Male head coach Tim Haworth told the Herald-Leader before the start of the season. “He’s at a different level with his mentality. He’s the best I’ve ever coached at that age, and I’ve coached some good ones. He’s really good.”
A third Kentucky high school player — Louisville Christian guard George Washington III — was a new addition to the 247Sports rankings, coming in at the No. 74 overall spot. Washington, a 6-2 prospect and a native of Texas, moved to Kentucky last year and is already being pursued by U of L and some other high-major programs.
Washington is averaging 24.4 points per game and has made 76 of 195 three-point shots (39.0 percent) through 25 games this season.
New Jersey point guard DJ Wagner remains the No. 1 overall recruit in the 2023 class. He is the son of Dajuan Wagner, who was John Calipari’s first major recruit at Memphis, and the grandson of Louisville great Milt Wagner, who also has ties to Calipari and served as an assistant coach under UK’s Tony Barbee for eight seasons at UTEP and Auburn.
Kentucky is already considered the favorite in Wagner’s recruitment.
“For a young sophomore, he’s just an elite prospect,” Branham told the Herald-Leader this season. “He’s a tremendous three-level scorer. He can make shots off the catch and pull, with range. He’s long. He’s athletic. He just has a knack for getting the ball in the hole. He’s great in transition. He’s smart, high IQ and can really pass. And, obviously, with having all of that as just a sophomore — the kid has immense upside.
“His frame is still fairly thin. And given his genetics and who his dad is, you know he’s going to continue to grow. You know he’s going to continue to get stronger, get more athletic. He’s just a smart kid, smart player who is competitive and really skilled and can do everything at a high level, especially for being just a sophomore in high school.”
This story was originally published March 10, 2021 at 12:00 PM.
