NCAA Basketball: Top 10 players to wear jersey No. 15 in 2023-24 season
By Joey Loose
4. Reed Sheppard (Kentucky)
John Calipari landing highly-rated recruits at Kentucky was no surprise, and neither should’ve been his efforts to land Sheppard this past offseason. After all, this Top 40 recruit’s father had played for the Wildcats three decades earlier. Sheppard spent a productive freshman season playing with the Wildcats, settling into a prominent role off the bench and setting himself up for future success beyond the college game.
The freshman averaged 12.5 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per game while making a mind-blowing 52% of his 3-point attempts. He received starting minutes despite coming off the bench, leading Kentucky in assists and certainly important as a sharpshooter. One of the best true shooters in the nation, Sheppard was named Rookie of the Year in the SEC while also collecting Second Team All-SEC honors at the end of the year. Let’s not also forget that his 2.5 steal per game was eighth in the nation and led the conference as well.
Sheppard had 25-point efforts early in the season in games against Stonehill and UNC Wilmington. He certainly showed up when the games matter more as well, aiding the Wildcats in several key wins including 32 points in a road game at Mississippi State. Things went sideways to end the season for Kentucky, but Sheppard did shine with 27 points in a massive road win at Tennessee in the regular season finale.