Reed Sheppard on impressive ESPN debut: "I just proved that I belong"

Reed Sheppard is a consensus top 40, nationally ranked recruit. He’s been considered a four- or five-star prospect throughout the last couple of years. Sheppard committed to Kentucky — the first to do so in the 2023 class — because head coach John Calipari truly believes the Bluegrass native is capable of turning into a star. Sheppard’s family tree only adds to the intrigue.

But outside of Kentucky, Sheppard is hardly a household name in the world of basketball recruiting. His high school games aren’t ones played on national TV and he hadn’t participated in any of the major summer events until the NBPA Top 100 Camp back in June. Sheppard also plays AAU ball in the Adidas 3SSB circuit, which is a talented league but doesn’t attract the same amount of eyes as the Nike EYBL circuit.

Compared to his future Wildcat teammates Robert Dillingham and Justin Edwards, a pair of longtime five-star prospects, Sheppard doesn’t receive nearly the same amount of national recognition and praise. But that narrative shifted a bit on Tuesday in Las Vegas.

“I think I just proved that I belong and I can play at that stage and that level,” Sheppard told the media on Thursday of his impressive outing earlier this week. “But at the end of the day it was a fun experience — my teammates, we played a heck of a game. I think we had 11 threes in the first half. Being able to play with my teammates and my friends, it was my last AAU game, so being in that experience was awesome.”

Suiting up one final time for Midwest Basketball Club, Sheppard and his squad took the floor Tuesday night at the Las Vegas Big Time Finale, which aired live on ESPN. It was Sheppard’s first appearance for a primetime event, one that had him facing off against Dillingham, Bronny James, and the rest of a five-star-studded Strive For Greatness (EYBL) group.

MBC took it to SFG from the opening tip to the final buzzer, leading by 15-20 points throughout the majority of the contest before landing on a 78-67 victory. Sheppard was arguably the best player out there, finishing with 16 points, nine rebounds, and four assists. He was later named MVP of the contest.

“It was an unbelievable experience,” Sheppard added. “No matter how the turnout of the game would have went, it would have been awesome. Because playing on ESPN as an 18-year-old in Las Vegas doesn’t happen a lot. So being able to do that was unbelievable. And then of course we won so that made it a lot better. It was an unbelievable experience and I’m really thankful that I had that opportunity.”

Kentucky fans have got to be excited for Reed Sheppard coming up!🔥💯@reed_sheppard @MidwestBBClub @lvbigtime #BBN pic.twitter.com/EWtMsFLwom

— SportsCenter NEXT (@SCNext) July 27, 2022

In the first of what will surely be many more times down the road, Sheppard and Dillingham went head-to-head. It was Sheppard who got the better of the two in round one, with Dillingham posting 11 points and four assists for SFG. After the game was over, the soon-to-be teammates made time to embrace each other on the floor.

“That was cool,” Sheppard said of playing against Dillingham. “That was the first time I’ve ever played against him. And before the game, the (Kentucky) coaches were texting both of us just talking to us about it, and then after the game we hugged and talked to each other and that was really cool. But during the game there was no talking during the game, it was all business and trying to win but it was really cool being able to play against him.”

Sheppard also chatted it up with Bronny James, the famous son of NBA great LeBron James who is a talented four-star recruit in his own right, after the game was over. SFG included other star prospects such as five-star wing Mackenzie Mgbako, four-star guard Wesley Yates, and four-star forward Mookie Cook.

“We’ve all grown up playing against each other since like 8th grade,” Sheppard said. “Or not playing against each other so much but being around each other and knowing who each other are. So being able to finally play against them on the stage that it was on and being able to have fun with them after the fact was all really cool. It’s moments like that that you’ll never forget. You’re an 18-year-old kid playing on ESPN in Las Vegas against the top players in the nation, being able to talk to them like they’re just normal people after a game. It’s really cool.”

Strive For Greatness was essentially thrown together overnight, too. It was only the day before the matchup that KSR’s Jack Pilgrim broke the news of Dillingham teaming up with James. With so many five-stars suddenly crowding the roster, the term “Super Team” was tossed around leading up to the matchup. Not many expected Midwest Basketball Club to come away with the win — and they certainly didn’t expect it to be a borderline blowout from start to finish in favor of the underdog.

“We knew we could hang with them,” Sheppard said. “We knew they weren’t gonna come in and beat us because everybody felt that they had a superteam that they had just thrown together. But going into it we were just like all right guys, we’re all good enough, we can play with them, and it’s our last AAU game, we’re not gonna go down without a fight. Once we got going, everything started clicking and I think we got tired of hearing about all the hype around their team so we were like all right nobody thinks we can win.”

The contest was never truly tight either, outside of a few minutes in the second half when the MBC lead got to as few as nine. It was a stunning victory to close out the summer, one that will have Sheppard’s game held in high regard moving forward.