UK Fans of the Day Want More Reed Sheppard Features

Reed Sheppard is still the talk of college basketball following his 32-point performance and game-winner at Mississippi State on Tuesday night. While the Big Blue Nation has been well aware of Reed’s unique talent and story for years, the rest of the sport is now taking notice.

This week, we’ve been gifted two excellent features on Reed and his famous family. The first is from Kyle Tucker, who caught up with the Sheppards and those around them after his big night. The focus is on Reed’s very special background, his booming popularity (and therefore, NIL), and the question everyone in the Bluegrass seems to be asking: will he return for a sophomore season? Scott Padgett, a former teammate of Jeff Sheppard, says it’s not out of the question.

“I’m not saying he’ll stay four years, but I would still be shocked if his career lasted one,” he says. “If there are weaknesses they think he can work on and improve in a year, I could see him staying another year. They’re going to look at this differently than most, for one because the NIL is probably crazy, but also because education is huge to them and he’d be another year closer to a degree, where he could then come back and finish it in the summers. And, to be honest with you, there’s an unknown factor.

“They are such a close, close, close family, and Reed has lived his whole life in London and Lexington, so I don’t know that there’s a real rush to get out of there unless you’re 100 percent ready. Plus, if he comes back, he’s a rock star. He’s Michael Jordan and Muhammad Ali. In that state, he would be that.”

The Athletic

For more, I’ll direct you to Kyle’s feature over at The Athletic. If you’re not a subscriber, enjoy the pictures of a young Reed that he posted on Twitter:

UK asked the Sheppard family if they wanted some crowd control for autograph seekers at Rupp.

“Absolutely not, because this is home, and that’s who we live with. That’s the difference. When all this is done, we’ll still be here. These are our people.”

✍🏻 https://t.co/OIM4cInV67 pic.twitter.com/8vgceBIRQd

— Kyle Tucker (@KyleTucker_ATH) February 29, 2024

Over at CBS Sports, Matt Norlander covered another angle of Reed’s story you should be very familiar with at this point: his relationship with his mother. Stacey Reed Sheppard was a two-time state champion at Laurel County and still ranks in the top ten in several Kentucky Women’s Basketball statistical categories, including No. 1 in steals and No. 2 in assists. I wrote a short novel about Stacey, Reed, and Jeff back in November. With Reed’s star on the rise approaching the postseason, Norlander is shining the national spotlight on it.

Again, most of this you already know, but we can’t get enough of Reed right now and the feature includes some great quotes from him, his parents, and his sister Madison.

“How hard she plays and how hard she works, even to this day,” Reed said of how Stacey, who is also a breast cancer survivor, inspires him. “I know how good my mom was and how impactful she was on the basketball court. So, if I get told I play like a girl because of my mom, then I play like a girl.”

CBS Sports

This detail about Reed’s room back in London is lovely too.

In Reed’s bedroom, next to the photos and autographs of Kentucky players gone by, is a replica of a backboard nailed to the wall. Stacey built it with the wood from her grandparents’ barn. The goal screwed to it is the old rusty rim she shot on as a girl. She put it over Reed’s bed “just to remind him of a little bit of where he came from, where I came from and how much that basketball has always meant to our family.”

CBS Sports

I hear there’s a television component to Norlander’s story too. Maybe we’ll see it during CBS’ broadcast of Kentucky vs. Arkansas tomorrow?