Reed Sheppard named SEC Freshman of the Week

It was an up-and-down week for Kentucky basketball with a top-ten win over Miami (FL), followed immediately by a home loss to UNC Wilmington. One thing that stayed the same through it all? Reed Sheppard‘s standout play.

And his individual effort has paid off in the form of Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week honors.

Sheppard earned the prestigious award on Monday after averaging 23.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 2.0 steals per game while shooting 56.7% from the field across two games. It’s the first of the freshman’s young career and the second for a Wildcat in as many weeks after D.J. Wagner was named the league’s top rookie a week ago.

Reed Sheppard: @SEC Freshman of the Week.

📰🔗 https://t.co/fu4ghDVV7s pic.twitter.com/BLrXzE6vxq

— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) December 4, 2023

Laurel County’s finest opened the week scoring 21 points to go with five rebounds and four assists in Kentucky’s win over Miami. He followed it up with a career-high 25 points with nine rebounds in the loss to UNCW.

Sheppard ranks among the nation’s best in several categories, namely 3-point field-goal percentage (61.1%, No. 1), true shooting percentage (81.3%, No. 2) and plus/minus (16.1, No. 3). He’s also recording 3.00 steals per game (No. 7) while making 2.75 threes per game (No. 60), recording 2.58 assist-to-turnover ratio (No. 81), dishing 3.9 assists per game (No. 160), swatting 0.88 blocks per game (No. 336) and pulling down 4.38 defensive rebounds per game (No. 345).

Can the Wildcats get a third straight SEC Freshman of the Week next Monday? It’ll take a big effort in Kentucky’s matchup vs. Penn in Philadelphia this weekend.