Kentucky basketball commit Reed Sheppard has turned into a key recruiter for the Wildcats
Over the last year, one of Kentucky basketball’s strongest recruiting presences hasn’t been its quartet of assistant coaches, all of whom have distinct regional ties to different parts of the country and decades of college basketball experience.
It hasn’t even been John Calipari, the famed head coach who runs the show.
Instead, it’s been a high school star from southeastern Kentucky, who is poised to be the next UK basketball sensation.
Reed Sheppard is already well known both inside the commonwealth and nationally.
The class of 2023 UK commit checks in at No. 25 in the country in the RSCI (Recruiting Services Consensus Index), which takes all of the rankings from the nation’s top recruiting services and combines them into one single metric.
Sheppard — the son of two former UK basketball players — pledged to join Calipari and the Cats in November 2021, and ever since he’s been trying to lure more future talent to Lexington.
During a youth basketball camp he hosted Saturday in Pikeville — part of a day full of UK basketball events in the Eastern Kentucky city — Sheppard spoke about his role as a recruiter for future Kentucky players.
“I’m very comfortable (in a recruiting role),” Sheppard said. “That was one of the things the coaches talked to me about. ‘You can be as big of a recruiter for these players as we are. They like talking to you more than they like talking to us, they don’t want to be on 30-minute phone calls with us. Just keep doing what you’re doing. It means a lot to them, you just don’t know it.’”
Why does Sheppard think he’s able to resonate with some of the top high school players in the country?
“Just how we communicate. We’re the same age. We’re all going through the same stuff,” Sheppard said. “They’re looking for the same stuff at the schools. So just being able to talk to them, it doesn’t even have to be about the school, just building a relationship with them outside of basketball, stuff like that, it’s special.”
UK’s 2023 recruiting class currently features four players: Guards Robert Dillingham and Sheppard, small forward Justin Edwards and center Aaron Bradshaw.
Bradshaw is the most recent of these commits, having announced his intention to join UK just prior to Big Blue Madness this month.
News of Bradshaw’s commitment to UK took many by surprise, considering it was previously announced that he would be revealing his post-high school playing decision Nov. 16.
Bradshaw, Sheppard and a host of other UK recruits were in Lexington at Rupp Arena for Big Blue Madness.
What was the reaction like when Bradshaw arrived as a newly minted Wildcat?
“All of the recruits were in a room at one point, and we all saw that he committed. We were all pretty excited. As soon as he walked in, we all ran over and gave him a big hug,” Sheppard recalled. “He was smiling. So it was an awesome experience.”
Sheppard’s thoughts on what Bradshaw can bring to Kentucky’s 2023 recruiting class mirror what most basketball analysts have described about the 7-foot center from New Jersey, who is an elite presence at the rim with an emerging outside shot.
“He’s 7-foot and can shoot and move. He’s not super skinny, so he can take some beating down there,” Sheppard explained. “I think he can shoot. He can change the game in so many ways.”
Of course, this incoming class of UK players that Sheppard will be a part of still probably has one more addition to it.
Consensus five-star guard DJ Wagner — long the subject of recruiting talk in the region — is yet to announce a timetable for his post-high school playing decision (Bradshaw and Wagner are teammates both at the high school and travel basketball levels).
When Wagner does announce his decision though, it’s widely expected that he will be a Kentucky Wildcat.
This would give UK’s 2023 recruiting class five players that all rank in the top 25, according to the RSCI.
But for now, Sheppard — who attended UK’s Blue-White Game in Pikeville on Saturday night — is focused on closing out his high school career strong with North Laurel.
Last season, the Jaguars reached the Boys’ Sweet 16 State Basketball Tournament.
“I’m very comfortable. I think we’ve all been working very hard since our loss in the Sweet 16 last year to Pikeville,” Sheppard said. “I’m excited for the year, my last year of playing with my friends. I’m excited. I’m ready to have fun. We’re going to enjoy the ride, but also we’re going to work hard and try to surpass where we came from last year.”
