Reed Sheppard
Reed Sheppard is an American basketball player born on June 24, 2004, in London, Kentucky. He is the son of Jeff and Stacey Sheppard, both former University of Kentucky basketball players. His father, Jeff, was the 1998 Final Four MVP and won two national championships. Sheppard played college basketball for the University of Kentucky, where he stood out as one of the best freshmen in the country. In his freshman season (2023-2024), he was named National Freshman of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) (Wayman Tisdale National Freshman of the Year). He was also selected for the Second Team All-SEC and the All-SEC Freshman Team. During the season, he averaged 12.5 points, 4.5 assists, 4.1 rebounds, and 2.5 steals per game, leading his team in scoring in seven games, assists in 18 games, and steals in 25 games. He had 21 games with double-digit scoring, including seven with 20 or more points. In high school, Sheppard attended North Laurel High School, where he was a highly rated player, ranked top 22 by ESPN. He was a McDonald’s All-American in 2023 and received the Mr. Kentucky Basketball award in the same year. He finished his high school career with 3,727 points, 1,214 assists, and 1,050 rebounds, averaging 22.5 points, 8.5 assists, and 8.4 rebounds per game in his senior year. He was also the Gatorade Player of the Year for Kentucky in 2022. Reed Sheppard was selected as the 3rd overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft by the Houston Rockets, where he currently plays as a point guard or shooting guard.
