Kentucky basketball’s future is bright. Three UK recruits earn major national honors.
All three of Kentucky’s current basketball recruits earned major national honors Wednesday morning.
Chris Livingston and Cason Wallace — two players who will play for the Wildcats next season — and UK commitment Reed Sheppard, a high school junior, were all named the Gatorade players of the year from their respective states.
Additionally, Livingston and Wallace were selected for the 2022 Jordan Brand Classic, which is Nike’s premier postseason all-star event for high school basketball prospects.
Livingston — a 6-foot-6 wing — averaged 18.2 points and 9.1 rebounds per game in his first season at Oak Hill Academy, earning Virginia player of the year honors. He will lead Oak Hill in the GEICO nationals — the de facto national tournament for high school basketball — later this month.
Wallace — a 6-4 combo guard — led Richardson High School to a 32-2 record and won player of the year honors for the state of Texas, averaging 19.9 points, 7.4 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game.
Both Livingston and Wallace were selected for the Jordan Brand Classic, which will be played April 15 in Chicago. The two future Wildcats had already been picked for the McDonald’s All-American Game, which will be played later this month.
Skyy Clark, who decommitted from Kentucky last week, was also selected for the Jordan game.
Sheppard — a 6-3 combo guard — averaged 25.5 points, 6.8 rebounds, 7.6 assists and 4.4 steals per game for North Laurel High School this season. He was named the Kentucky player of the year and led the Jaguars to the Sweet Sixteen.
Kentucky landed a commitment from Sheppard in the fall, though he still has one more season of high school basketball remaining before he’ll join the Wildcats team for the 2023-24 season.
This story was originally published March 16, 2022 at 10:56 AM.
