It’s official.
North Laurel senior Reed Sheppard signed a letter of intent Wednesday evening to further his academic and basketball careers at the University of Kentucky.
Sheppard committed to Kentucky before his junior season tipped off during the 2021-2022 season, and made it official today — he will be playing for coach John Calipari and the Wildcats.
Sheppard said he fortunate to have his parents, Jeff and Stacey Sheppard, who both played basketball at Kentucky) help him through the recruiting process.
“They were big in helping me get through it all,” he said. “They had advice for me. I was super-excited, and blessed to have them go through that process with me.”
Sheppard stated that once he received the offer last year, it didn’t take him long to know where he wanted to play at in college.
“I had a good idea in my head when I got the offer,” he smiled. “Just growing up in Kentucky, I always wanted to play for Kentucky. Coach (John) Calipari does such a good job of developing players and where they need to go outside of college whether it’s basketball or outside of basketball. He has a great coaching staff, and the fans at Kentucky are the best fans in the world. So I’m super-excited.”
Sheppard will now shift his focus for the upcoming high school season as he and his Jaguar teammates are set to defend their 13th Region title.
“Right now, I’m just worried about having fun during my last year of high school, and spending time with my friends and teammates, and enjoying the whole process,” he said.
