Busting Brackets
Fansided

Jeremy Sheppard’s return boost Rhode Island Basketball for 2021-22 season

By Adam Bernstein

Nov 28, 2020; Uncasville, Connecticut, USA; Rhode Island Rams guard Jeremy Sheppard (2) drives the ball against South Florida Bulls guard Caleb Murphy (23) in the second half at Mohegan Sun Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 28, 2020; Uncasville, Connecticut, USA; Rhode Island Rams guard Jeremy Sheppard (2) drives the ball against South Florida Bulls guard Caleb Murphy (23) in the second half at Mohegan Sun Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

Jeremy Sheppard lifted a lot of Rhode Island Basketball fans’ heads up with his announcement to return to the Rams for a graduate season.

The 6-foot-1 guard broke the news on his Instagram and Twitter accounts. He posted Monday, “I’m Back,” which brought a thrill to the Rhody fanbase.

Sheppard finished second in scoring, assists, and steals behind Fatts Russell on the Rams this past season. The veteran guard averaged 11.3 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 2.8 assists in his first year with the program.

With the NCAA giving all seniors one more year of eligibility due to COVID-19, Russell recently announced he will take his graduate season to another school. But, another year of Jeremy Sheppard will boost the talent throughout this roster.

Coach David Cox will return four of his starters from this past season: Sheppard, Malik Martin, Makhel Mitchell, and Antwan Walker. We can also expect a full healthy season of forward Makhi Mitchell and several improvements from the true freshman Ishmael Leggett who impressed.

With the Rams awarding one scholarship to 6-foot-8 forward Abdou Samb, they are left with one open scholarship to fill.

They have already offered scholarships to Preston Murphy Jr. (2022), Ishmael El Amin, and Jarrod West. Murphy Jr. is the son of Ram great Preston Murphy. He is de-committing from DePaul after Coach Dave Leitao’s firing. El Amin is transferring out of Ball State and West is transferring out of Marshall.

Sheppard will give the 2021-22 Rams significant depth in the backcourt which includes, Jalen Carey, Ishmael Leggett, and Tres Berry. Berry spent this last season redshirting and has the potential to be an impact player on this team and even in the Atlantic 10 Conference.

I believe Rhode Island can contend next season due to several top players transferring out of the Atlantic 10 Conference including, Tre Mitchell, Kellan Grady, and Tyler Kolek.

Ranking Sweet 16 teams. dark. Next

It will be interesting to see how the rest of this offseason will play out for Coach Cox and the Rhode Island Rams.

Home/Atlantic 10