As Reed Sheppard's star grows, the UK basketball commit eyes a 2023 recruiting superclass

GEORGETOWN, Ky. — Reed Sheppard was in their shoes once, these wide-eyed grade schoolers sitting cross-legged on the basketball court at Creekside Elementary.

It wasn’t that long ago. Sheppard still remembers making the rounds at summer camps hosted by his father, former Kentucky basketball great Jeff Sheppard, and admiring the Wildcats who walked him through drills to improve his game.

Two of his favorites were Jarrod Polson and Josh Harrellson. Sheppard said both players would occasionally stay with his family when they worked the summer camp circuit.

“(Harrellson) was always fun to hang around,” Sheppard said Thursday at his first Players First Satellite ProCamp. “He was always picking on me.”

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How quickly the roles can change.

It'll be more than a year before Sheppard takes the court for UK, but the five-star Class of 2023 commit is now the one standing up before a group of campers. Instead of “picking” on them, he preached the importance of being a good teammate and not letting missed shots detract from the joy of playing basketball. Every time the campers completed a drill, they broke down on “Reed!” in unison before moving to the next station.

In the basketball-crazed commonwealth of Kentucky, a legacy recruit of Sheppard’s caliber will draw plenty of attention. Before the guard finished his sophomore year at North Laurel High School, he was the subject of a Sports Illustrated daily cover story that pondered if he could "bring about a change in the increasingly unpopular way the Wildcats roster is constructed." After Sheppard committed to coach John Calipari last fall — and has continued to excel on the court since — his star has only grown brighter.

Still, Sheppard had to admit that hosting his first camp at just 18 felt a bit surreal.

“It’s kinda hard to take it all in,” said Sheppard, who hosted the clinic through a partnership with White, Greer & Maggard Orthodontics. “It’s really cool to be a part of and to see (the kids) all having fun and enjoying it.”

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Just days before hosting the camp, Sheppard ended his AAU basketball career in Las Vegas and made his inaugural appearance on ESPN — “an unbelievable experience,” he said.

In front of a national audience, his Adidas-backed Midwest Basketball Club topped fellow Kentucky commit Robert Dillingham and the Nike-sponsored Strive For Greatness, 78-67. Sheppard was a key part of the victory, scoring 16 points, grabbing nine rebounds and dishing out four assists.

Sheppard said he and Dillingham, the top-ranked point guard in the 2023 class, were all “business” and didn’t speak to each other during the game. When the final buzzer sounded, the future Wildcats embraced on the court, knowing their paths will cross again in due time.

“We've all grown up playing against each other since about like eighth grade — or not playing against each other so much, but like being around each other and just knowing who each other are and that type of stuff,” Sheppard said. “So being able to finally play against him on the stage that it was on and being able to have fun with him after the fact is all really cool. It’s moments like that you’ll never forget.”

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Sheppard’s attention now turns toward his final season at North Laurel, where he averaged 25.2 points per game as a junior and was named Kentucky's Gatorade Boys Basketball Player of the Year. While he is helping the Jaguars make another run at the Sweet 16, the top-five combo guard prospect plans to also recruit more talent to UK’s 2023 class.

Sheppard and Dillingham got some additional firepower Monday, when five-star small forward Justin Edwards announced his pledge to Kentucky. Sheppard said he hadn’t played against the Philadelphia native but liked what he saw during the National Basketball Players Association’s Top 100 Camp this summer.

“It was really neat being around him and talking to him and trying to convince him to come to Kentucky while we were there,” Sheppard said. “So I kinda had an idea (before Edwards committed) that he was gonna come to Kentucky.

“It’s really cool knowing now that I have two other teammates, and hopefully we can get some more with Aaron (Bradshaw), DJ (Wagner) and Ron (Holland).”

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Wagner is the No. 1 overall player in the 2023 class and the son of Dajuan Wagner, who played one season for Calipari at Memphis before making the jump to the NBA. Bradshaw is a teammate of Wagner’s and the No. 2 center prospect in the class. Holland, a Texas native, ranks fourth among all power forwards in the country.

Kentucky is a contender in each of the three players’ recruitments in the eyes of national analysts. If Calipari were to score their commitments, UK’s 2023 haul would boast six five-star prospects, all of whom you’ll find in the top 20 of 247Sports’ composite rankings.

Here’s Sheppard’s pitch to the undecided: “It's Kentucky.”

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“I mean, it's Coach Cal,” he said. “Look at the players that they brought in and where they are now. They’re all in the NBA doing really good, and if they’re not in the NBA they’re overseas and making a good name for themselves.

“That’s kind of what I'm telling them. It’s just like, ‘Look at what Coach Cal could do with you after Kentucky.’ He gets you better. No matter how long you stay, he gets you better and improves your game. And he knows so many people that he can get you about wherever you want to go, whether it’s basketball or it’s not basketball.”

Only time will tell if Sheppard’s dream of a superclass will come to fruition.

Reach recruiting and trending sports reporter Brooks Holton at bholton@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter at @brooksHolton.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky basketball recruiting: Reed Sheppard eyes 2023 superclass