One month into the season, there seems to be a clear-cut choice for first family of college basketball. Jeff Sheppard won the Most Outstanding Player of the 1998 Final Four after leading Kentucky to its second title in three years.
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When he first arrived in Lexington as a freshman, a junior on the Kentucky women's team took notice of him. Stacey Reed, who led her high school to a Kentucky state title as an eighth grader, then repeated the feat as a senior, told teammates that she'd marry Sheppard someday.
"I said it," she admitted to the Herald Leader back in 2008. "I don't know if I believed it (but) I said it."
She made her move, offering to hang out with Sheppard or take him fishing near campus. Not every shot Reed took hit paydirt, however.
"I wouldn't have anything to do with her," Jeff told the paper.
"He blew me off," she agreed.
Eventually, she wore him down, and the two began dating. They married shortly after college and had a daughter, Madison, and a son, who might be the biggest surprise in college basketball's freshman class this season.
Reed Sheppard appears to have been created in a lab as the most UK player ever. Born and bred in the commonwealth and named after Big Blue men's and women's legends. Both parents are still on the school's leader boards, two decades after they finished playing.
It seemed like an obvious decision for Sheppard to follow his parents to Kentucky, but Virginia, Indiana, Louisville and Ohio State were all strong contenders during his recruitment.
"Part of me actually thought he would choose a different route," sister Madison told the Interior Journal. "I'm not going to lie ...At one point I thought he might not pick Kentucky because there was so much pressure on him that people did not realize."
In the end, though, he chose the Cats, saying, "As a little boy from Kentucky, it's always been a dream of mine to play at UK."
Despite the bloodlines, however, his scholarship wasn't just a matter of nepotism.
"I know playing for Kentucky has been a dream of Reed's ever since he was a child," coach John Calipari said after Sheppard signed, "but, Reed isn't here because he wanted to be here. He's here because he's a really good player who can help this team win."
Seven games into his freshman year, Sheppard has done just that. While he was a McDonald's All-American and the highest-rated in-state player to sign with UK since Rex Chapman, Sheppard was only the fifth-highest rated prospect in Kentucky's incoming freshman class, behind 5-stars Justin Edwards, Aaron Bradshaw and DJ Wagner and fellow 4-star Rob Dillingham.
Kentucky fans at first treated him like a glorified walk-on, cheering wildly when he approached the scorer's table to enter the game and urging him to shoot when he was on the floor.
"It's really cool growing up in Kentucky and then going out there and making a three, and the crowd going crazy," he said. "It's really, really cool."
Very quickly, however, it became apparent that Sheppard was no walk-on, no charity case for the crowd. He's going to be a key factor for a Wildcats team that has jumped out to a 6-1 record on the year.
He scored 12 points in his first collegiate game and went 3-of-4 from three in a loss to Kansas in the Champions Classic. He's also recorded a 25-point night against Stonehill, going 7-of-8 from three and put up 12 against Marshall.
Against Miami in the ACC/SEC Challenge, however, he took his star turn. Fellow freshman DJ Wagner went down with an injury, and Sheppard stepped up for the Cats. He hit 5-of-9 from three coming off the bench for a game-high 21 points. He also had a blocked shot, rebound and long assist on a fastbreak during Kentucky's rally late in the first half. The Wildcats outscored Miami by 18 while he was on the court in the first half.
His performance earned the attention of his father's old coach, Hall of Famer Rick Pitino.
I'm watching Reed Sheppard play n thinking of his Mom n Dad as if it were yesterday. Such a great experience for both of them. Absolutely wonderful people. Make it happen Reed!!!
— Rick Pitino (@RealPitino) November 29, 2023
His big performances in big games have many observers thinking of his Kentucky bloodlines, but not in the way you might think.
"I always saw his ability to have a feel for passing," Calipari said after the game. "His hands—and I'm not joking when I say this—that's Stacey's. That's who that is. Jeff wasn't that way. Stacey was that way. And you just seem him get his hands on (loose) balls."
"A lot of people back home always said I play more like Mom," Reed said. "Everyone else says Dad, but back home, nobody says I play like Dad."
Sheppard currently leads the nation in three-point shooting with an other-worldly 63.3% accuracy. But he's far more than just a shooter. He makes the hustle plays that Calipari pointed out were reminiscent of Stacey. He also makes the extra pass and has a strong attitude. One of the most striking positives about this year's Kentucky team is the on-court chemistry that the team clearly possesses. Sheppard, who spends more time talking about teammates than his own rapidly ascending fame, is a key factor behind that.
"Anything I can do to help the team win," he said. "If I have to go out and score zero points and do little things, that's perfectly fine. I love going out and making the easy play, the basketball play and helping the team win."
Anyone care to guess where he learned that lesson?
"I've seen him play I don't know how many games," father Jeff told the media earlier this year. "I've seen games where he's made shots and where he's missed shots. We've both (his mom and I) been there as well. It's too difficult a game to play perfect, so it's important you just focus on the team. When things have gone bad from an individual standpoint, the thing we've said is to focus on winning the game. Focus on the team, on defense and doing the little things. It's amazing. When you focus on other things, your shot starts to go in, because you're consumed with the game and in the rhythm of the game instead of always thinking of yourself."
"Focus on the things you can control, in a basketball game or life," Mom agreed. "That's attitude, effort. What you can control when shots aren't falling—You can control defense. You can control effort. You can control your heart and emotions."
It's enough to make observers change their tune. Instead of talking about the rising second-generation star at Kentucky, soon, people may refer to Stacey and Jeff as "Reed Sheppard's parents." Seven games into his freshman season, Reed has already scored 86 points. That's just 21 shy of Jeff's total for his 29-game freshman year at Kentucky.
"It's probably changed a little bit (already)," Reed said. "Dad was a good player. It didn't bother me to have people saying, 'Jeff Sheppard's son,' but I definitely wanted to make a name for myself. I think I've done that."
