How does Reed Sheppard’s commitment affect the No. 1 recruit in the 2023 class?
Kentucky basketball fans love a homegrown recruit, and they got good news from one of the best local prospects in years with Reed Sheppard’s commitment to the Cats on Saturday morning.
UK will obviously be looking to add more to its 2023 class moving forward, however, and the attention of those who follow recruiting will quickly turn to other possible future Wildcats.
For the 2023 class, one name has always been at the top of that list.
DJ Wagner is ranked as the No. 1 recruit in the junior class by all of the national recruiting services, and Kentucky is an early favorite for his commitment. Like Sheppard — a 6-foot-3 combo guard from London — Wagner is a versatile backcourt prospect who could play on or off the ball in college. At most college programs, it’s unthinkable to land two top-20 players at the same position in the same class. At Kentucky, it’s almost expected.
And Sheppard’s commitment shouldn’t have any negative effect whatsoever on Wagner’s recruitment.
“I don’t think it impacts anything with DJ,” said 247Sports analyst Travis Branham. “I think those guys could play very well off of each other. DJ, right now, is more of a ‘2’ guard than he is a point guard. And Reed — given how good of a passer and decision-maker he is — you can throw him at the ‘1’ and DJ at the ‘2’ and you’re going to have no problem at all.”
That’s a bit of a switch from the narrative around each player to this point in their development.
Wagner — a 6-3 prospect from Camden, N.J. — has long been hailed as the best point guard in his class, though he’s shown in recent months that he can also be a do-anything type of perimeter player with the ability to adjust to different lineup scenarios. Sheppard has long been considered an off-ball guard, but he proved time and time again over the spring and summer that he can handle the ball and create for teammates against national competition.
If they team up at Kentucky, defenses might not know what’s coming at them at any given time.
“Those two guys, you can play ‘1-2’ and they’re both going to bring you multiple things,” Branham said. “DJ is the ultimate competitor. And that’s something that I don’t think Reed gets enough credit for. He’s a big-time competitor, and he’s really tough. … So, yeah, you can play those two guys side by side. They both can function on and off the ball. So I think they actually complement each other very well.”
They apparently got along well off the court, too.
With his 2022 recruiting class pretty much finished up by Big Blue Madness weekend last month, John Calipari was able to use that event as a recruiting summit for top junior targets, getting a head start on the next cycle. His guests were New Jersey teammates Wagner and Mackenzie Mgbako — the No. 1 and 3 players in the class — and local star Sheppard.
So, Sheppard got to spend some time with Wagner at a UK practice, around campus and at Madness itself.
“He’s a great kid,” Sheppard said. “We didn’t get to talk too much, but when I was with him, we were laughing and having fun with each other. So it was pretty sweet for me to be able to meet him. And now I have to start working on him and try to get him to Kentucky.”
Sheppard confirmed that he was going to start reaching out to Wagner and some of the other players from the 2023 class who have early UK scholarship offers.
Wagner — the son of former Calipari star Dajuan Wagner and grandson of U of L great Milt Wagner — has been known to anyone who follows recruiting from a young age. His stepbrother is UK walk-on Kareem Watkins, and he was high school teammates with Kentucky’s Lance Ware, so the connections to the Wildcats program run deep. It’s widely assumed in recruiting circles that — unless Wagner goes straight from high school to the pros — he’ll end up at Kentucky.
Count Sheppard among those who would like to see it.
“It would be awesome,” he said. “I’ve never played against him, but I’ve seen some stuff, and he’s a great player, and he knows how to play the game. He doesn’t do a lot to make himself look good — he’s real humble, and he just goes out and plays. So I think it would be a pretty good duo to have.”
Head start on 2023
As celebrated as Kentucky’s 2022 recruiting class has been, there’s a realistic chance for the Wildcats to land an even more talented group in 2023.
UK has positioned itself well for several of the very best players in the class, and there’s an expectation that the Cats will land three or four top-15 recruits, in addition to Sheppard, who’s ranked No. 17 by 247Sports.
The in-state star said Saturday that he’s watched or played against most of the 2023 players UK has already offered, and he plans to start watching more video of each recruit and reach out to them to build relationships early on.
Wagner isn’t the only guard on that list.
Robert Dillingham — a 6-2 prospect from Hickory, N.C. — is No. 8 nationally in the 247Sports composite rankings and is regarded as one of the best scorers in the country, regardless of class. He’s listed as a point guard, but he likes to play off the ball — another elite backcourt player who can do a little bit of everything.
Kentucky is also the favorite in his recruitment, and Branham thinks the Cats could end up with Wagner, Sheppard and Dillingham in this 2023 class.
“Yeah, I do believe it’s possible,” he said. “Kentucky is in good standing when it comes to Robert Dillingham, and I think he’s one that we could see a decision come in the next two or three weeks. I could see them taking all three of them. That’s three dynamic guards. Dillingham is one of the best shooters and best shot-makers across the entire high school landscape. It’s not a given that they’ll be able to get all three, but I think there’s a chance they can do it.”
Such a scenario didn’t faze Sheppard in the least.
He’s familiar with Dillingham’s game, and he thinks all three guards could play together. It would be a smaller lineup, by Calipari’s usual standards, but it would also make for one of the most dynamic, keep-the-defense-guessing backcourts in the country.
The real beauty of such a collective would be the interchangeability of talent. Even if one of those players didn’t start, he could play major minutes off the bench. And Calipari could call on each player’s strengths depending on the opposing team and situation.
Sheppard knows the reality of any Kentucky basketball roster. You have to earn your spot.
“There’s going to be other really good players, so you have to come out every day playing your best and having the most energy and talking, and doing what the coach is saying,” he said. “Just keep doing what Coach Cal and the other coaches say. And listen to them. Because they know more than you know, even if you don’t think so. But they know more than you know. And they’ll put you where you need to be.”
If where Sheppard needs to be is the starting lineup for the first game of the 2023-24 season, that’s great. If he’s coming off the bench to spell Wagner or Dillingham or whichever other star guard UK has on its roster, he’ll play that role, too.
The 17-year-old smiled Saturday and repeated a line from his commitment ceremony a few minutes earlier, one that got a knowing laugh out of his father, former UK star Jeff Sheppard, who understands full well that you have to play the role you earn — and sometimes wait for your shot — when you commit to a place like Kentucky.
“Like I said, whatever Coach Cal wants me to do, that’s what I’m gonna to do,” Reed said. “And I trust in him that he will make me the best player that I can be.”
