Two Kentucky Wildcats on Wooden Award Top 25 Watch List

Two Kentucky Wildcats are in consideration for college basketball’s top honor. The Wooden Award, given each year to the sport’s top player, recently revealed a watch list that includes two UK stars, Antonio Reeves and Reed Sheppard.

Sheppard is one of only two freshmen (Baylor’s Ja’Kobe Walter) to appear on the Wooden Award’s Top 25 Midseason Watch List. The Mr. Basketball from North Laurel has been one of the most impactful players in all of college basketball. It’s not just that he’s one of the best three-point shooters in the country (53.6%, No. 2 in the SEC), Sheppard sprays the board across the box score seemingly every night.

Sheppard is averaging 11.9 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. He also is putting up 4.1 assists per game, (No. 4 in the SEC) an 2.5 steals per game (No. 2 in the SEC). How could I also forget the guard’s 11 blocked shots? Simply put, he’s a menace.

The other Kentucky Wildcat on the Wooden Midseason Top 25 is one of the nation’s most prolific shooters. He’s second in the SEC in scoring, averaging 18.6 points per game while knocking down 51.1% of his field goal attempts. The 2023 SEC Co-Sixth Man of the Year has scored in double figures in all but one game, and eclipsed 20 points in six different games, including a 30-point performance at Louisville.

The two Wildcats will be back in action Saturday afternoon when No. 6 Kentucky travels to Texas A&M. The action tips off at 2 pm EST on ESPN.

Wooden Award Midseason Top 25

Name	School	Conference	Height	Class	Position
Max Abmas	Texas	Big 12	6-0	Sr.	G
Armando Bacot	North Carolina	ACC	6-11	Sr.	F/C
L.J. Cryer	Houston	Big 12	6-1	Sr.	G
Johnell Davis	Florida Atlantic	American	6-4	Jr.	G
RJ Davis	North Carolina	ACC	6-0	Sr.	G
Hunter Dickinson#	Kansas	Big 12	7-2	Sr.	C
Zach Edey*	Purdue	Big Ten	7-4	Sr.	C
Kyle Filipowski	Duke	ACC	7-0	Soph	C
PJ Hall	Clemson	ACC	6-10	Sr.	C
David Jones	Memphis	American	6-6	Sr.	F
Dalton Knecht	Tennessee	SEC	6-6	Sr.	G
Tyler Kolek	Marquette	Big East	6-3	Sr.	G
Jaedon LeDee	San Diego State	Mountain West	6-9	Sr.	F
Caleb Love	Arizona	Pac-12	6-4	Sr.	G
Kevin McCullar Jr.	Kansas	Big 12	6-7	Sr.	G
Tristen Newton	Connecticut	Big East	6-5	Sr.	G
Antonio Reeves	Kentucky	SEC	6-6	Sr.	G
Baylor Scheierman	Creighton	Big East	6-7	Sr.	G
Mark Sears	Alabama	SEC	6-1	Sr.	G
Reed Sheppard	Kentucky	SEC	6-3	Fr.	G
KJ Simpson	Colorado	Pac-12	6-2	Jr.	G
Isaiah Stevens	Colorado State	Mountain West	6-0	Sr.	G
Wade Taylor IV	Texas A&M	SEC	6-0	Jr.	G
Tyson Walker	Michigan State	Big Ten	6-1	Sr.	G
Ja’Kobe Walter	Baylor	Big 12	6-5	Fr.	G