Prior to an impressive freshman season at the University of Kentucky,
Reed Sheppard put together one of the most impressive high school careers in Bluegrass State history at
North Laurel (London).
Now Sheppard is being projected as a top five pick in Wednesday's NBA Draft according to
the latest mocks by Kyle Boone and Gary Parrish of CBSSports.com. Boone has Sheppard going No. 3 to the Houston Rockets while Parrish sees him going No. 4 to the San Antonio Spurs.
The 6-foot-3 guard piled up 3,727 points, 1,214 assists and 1,050 rebounds in his high school career, earning MaxPreps Kentucky Player of the Year honors as a junior in 2021-22 before being named Mr. Kentucky Basketball in 2022-23 during his senior campaign.
Projected top five pick piled up 3,727 points, 1,214 assists and 1,050 rebounds during a dominant high school career in the Bluegrass State. (Photo: Wayne Litmer)
Sheppard began his varsity career in eighth grade, averaging
19.9 points per game that season, 20.6 points per contest as a
freshman and 30.1 points per outing as a sophomore.
In 2021-22, Sheppard averaged 25.5 points, 7.6 assists, 6.8 rebounds and 4.4 steals per contest to guide North Laurel to the KHSAA Sweet 16 and earn second team MaxPreps Junior All-America honors.
As a senior, he tallied 22.5 points, 8.5 assists and 8.4 rebounds per outing to lead the Jaguars back to the state tournament.
For his high school career, he averaged 22.6 points, 7.4 assists, 6.4 rebounds and 4.0 steals per game while shooting 52 percent from inside the arc and 37 percent from 3-point range. Sheppard concluded his career as the third-leading scorer in state history and second in career assists.
Despite his excellent play at the prep level, Sheppard wasn't regarded as a top 50 prospect.
247Sports had him pegged as the No. 79 prospect in the Class of 2023.
During his one season of NCAA basketball with the Wildcats, Sheppard averaged 12.5 points, 4.5 assists and 4.1 rebounds per game while shooting 53.6 percent from the field, 52.1 percent from 3-point range and 83.1 percent from the free throw line.
