4-Point Play: DJ Wagner, Will Riley and Reed Sheppard

Happy Memorial Day, folks. I hope you all are spending this day enjoying the weather and grilling up something delicious, preferably on a pool deck with family and loved ones. That’s currently where this post is being written as I prepare to head up I-65N toward Indianapolis for Game 4 between the Celtics and Pacers, hoping Boston pulls off the sweep inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse. I’ll be there rooting on my C’s later tonight, but until then, how about some afternoon notes?

Coming your way now, BBN.

Coach Cal brings alternate reality to Fayetteville

This season was already going to be weird considering the 65-year-old Italian elephant in the room — John Calipari roaming the sidelines in Fayetteville and not actively trying to get ejected will be new for all of us. Seeing him with an Arkansas logo on his chest at EYBL Session III last weekend in Indianapolis was as bizarre as it gets, the Hall of Famer trading out blue for red and taking pictures as the leader of the Razorbacks, not Wildcats. That extends to his coaching staff, which now includes Kenny Payne, Chin Coleman, Chuck Martin and Brad Calipari, all guys with Kentucky ties.

How about the roster? Yeah, that’s going to be an adjustment, the latest example being DJ Wagner — a kid we’ve all been following since grade school as the next great Wildcat guard — moving from Lexington to Fayetteville. He considered his other options, but went with familiarity in the coach who stuck by his side through all of the ups and downs as his starter with Reed Sheppard and Rob Dillingham nipping at his heels off the bench. Loyalty won, just as it did for five other players in similar situations as transfers or high school signees.

Now, Calipari’s roster at Arkansas resembles exactly what fans expected to see at Kentucky this upcoming season when Mitch Barnhart made the initial decision to bring him back for year 16 what feels like a century ago, the core group of familiar faces looking something like this:

• DJ Wagner
• Boogie Fland
• Karter Knox
• Adou Thiero
• Zvonimir Ivisic
• Billy Richmond

From there, Calipari also added AAC Player of the Year Johnell Davis of FAU and All-SEC big Jonas Aidoo of Tennessee — two players you could have seen him pursue and likely add in Lexington, as well. And there is speculation Coach Cal and Chuck Martin, who helped land Big Z out of Croatia last summer, are searching high and low for big-money international help, as well.

Things worked out the way they were supposed to and Kentucky hired the right guy in Mark Pope. The roster is coming together beautifully with another key piece putting the cherry on top (looking at you, Jaxson Robinson). It was time for a fresh start for both sides, truly a win-win situation.

That doesn’t mean it won’t be like living through an alternate reality when the Razorbacks take the floor this season, the most tangible what could have been scenario to ever exist — results to be determined.

Will Riley to make reclass decision by end of June

BYU’s Jaxson Robinson is at the top of the priority list for the Wildcats, hoping for a similar coaching loyalty transfer from Provo to Lexington — Calipari has Wagner, Pope has Robinson. If he keeps his name in the draft past the May 29 withdrawal deadline, Miami’s Wooga Poplar is a potential scoring option to keep an eye on, his father telling KSR a visit to Kentucky is in the works.

Strike out there and there is a clear contingency plan in place at the high school level in 2025 five-star wing Will Riley.

The top-10 prospect is seriously considering a reclassification with Arizona, Arkansas, Alabama and Kentucky named finalists among schools with the NBL also a potential option. He’ll be taking an official visit to Lexington from June 4-6 as he figures out his future plans, both when and where. And we’ve got some clarity on the former, Riley confirming he’ll be making a final decision on making the jump to 2024 or staying put in his current class the coming weeks.

“I’m still deciding on whether I’m staying in 2025 or if I’ll reclass to 2024. I just don’t know yet. … It’s a good problem to have when you have all really good options,” Riley told Rivals national analyst Jason Jordan. “I think I’ll have a decision on reclassifying by the middle of June or the end of June. I just have to weigh everything out.”

Can Pope land his first top-10 recruit at Kentucky? There’s a chance Riley is his first big fish.

Kentucky is not actively pursuing Caleb Wilson

As one door opens, one is potentially closing — at least that’s the early read in Kentucky’s pursuit of 2025 five-star forward Caleb Wilson.

After some early contact from Alvin Brooks III following his move from Waco to Lexington, the nation’s No. 3 overall prospect says he hasn’t heard from Mark Pope and his staff since. Things continue to ramp up with other top-tier targets on Kentucky’s big board while talks with Wilson have stalled completely.

“I’ve taken official visits to Auburn, Kentucky, and Stanford,” Wilson told On3’s Jamie Shaw. “The Kentucky visit was with Coach (John) Calipari and the Stanford staff was with Coach (Jerod) Haase. The new staff at Kentucky has not reached out to me, and neither has the one at Stanford. Coach Calipari is now recruiting me at Arkansas.”

The 6-10 forward did, however, note he will “probably wait until the spring because there is a lot of change that can happen, coaches leaving, getting fired, all that” in terms of a decision timeline. That could present an opportunity to jump back in at a later date if necessary, but as things stand today, it appears there won’t be a match between Wilson and Kentucky.

Reed Sheppard‘s birthday gift to his mom on draft night

We’re now just a month away from the 2024 NBA Draft where London’s own Reed Sheppard remains in contention for the No. 1 overall pick, words I never thought I’d write after a once-in-a-lifetime one-and-done season at Kentucky. As he continues with workouts and interviews, the former Wildcat sat down with All-Star Paul George on his podcast where the Los Angeles Clippers standout asked him questions about the draft process and how he’s navigating these uncharted waters.

Among the topics? What he’s most excited for when draft night rolls around, which conveniently falls on Stacey Sheppard’s birthday — the perfect gift opportunity for her son.

“Draft night is June 26 and that’s my mom’s birthday, so I’m excited about that. That’ll be a cool birthday gift to my mom,” he said on the show. “Other than that, I think the biggest thing is being able to learn from the vets. I think that’ll be really important and I think that’ll be really cool, just seeing the game you grew up watching in the NBA and being able to actually be in the NBA, traveling with the team doing everything together and learning from everyone. Just seeing how it really is up close and personal, it’ll be really cool. I’m just super excited, I can’t believe I’m in the situation that I’m in. It’s gonna be really fun.”

Elsewhere, Sheppard discussed who he modeled his game after and what NBA fans should be looking for when he takes his talents to the league. His top comparison? None other than former Kentucky star Devin Booker, who has since become one of the top scoring guards in the world.

He’d like to follow in those same footsteps, if possible.

“There are definitely a lot of guys. That’s a tough question because there are so many great players that you could watch and take stuff from their game and try to put it into your game,” he said. “I like looking at my Kentucky boys like (Devin) Book(er). I like watching Book and how he can get to his mid-range. When he gets there, he can elevate over anyone. Being able to just watch him play and growing up watching him at Kentucky, that’s really cool for me seeing him at Kentucky and now in the league just doing what he does, how good that he does it.”

The list goes on and on, though, among players he looks to take bits and pieces from throughout the NBA.

“Other guys like Chris Paul, the way he can control the game. Steph Curry how he can just — how he shoots is just crazy,” he added. “There are a lot of guys that you look at and that you see that you want to kind of take stuff from their game and put it into your game.”

Sheppard’s life is about to flip upside down in a matter of weeks.