Reed Sheppard, a top NBA prospect, is a product of a basketball household. However, his parents kept their hooping acumen on the down-low throughout the early years of Sheppard’s life.
In a recent interview with NBA insider Shams Charania on Inside the Association, the former Kentucky Wildcats star shared that his parents did not show off their basketball-related stuff in their house when he was growing up (Start at 0:17):
“The thing I appreciate the most about them is, in the house when I was growing up there was never any jersey or any trophies hanging in the house,” Sheppard said. “They didn’t want to be known as basketball players, they wanted to be known as mom and dad,” he added.
Reed Sheppard then shared that he was already in middle school when he found out about her mom’s basketball-playing background (Start at 0:40).
“It wasn’t until like seventh or eighth grade I really knew about that. I knew about mom playing basketball. I knew they did something and I knew people like them because of it,” Sheppard said.
“We would be out at like grocery store and someone would come up to dad and be like ‘hey can I get picture,’ and I looked at dad and I was like ‘Dad who is that while they were there.’ And he’d act like he didn’t hear me because he doesn’t know who they are, they are just fans coming up to take a picture,” he shared.
The combo guard has often been labeled to have his mother’s game, especially due to quick hands that enabled him to average 2.5 steals per game last season.
Reed Sheppard’s parents were both basketball stars in Kentucky
Reed Sheppard’s dad Jeff played a key role for the Wildcats during 1993-1998 and helped the team lift two NCAA titles. He also scored 13.7 points per game during his senior year title run.
He scored 27 points in his last final-four appearance and 16 points in the championship game, earning the year’s Most Outstanding Player award.
Meanwhile, Reed Sheppard’s mom Stacey Reed was a Kentucky women’s best basketball player in the SEC around the same time. She made the starting lineup for the program for four years and is a 4-time team MVP. She finished her collegiate time by scoring over 1,400 points and getting an all-state selection and a Smith All-American recognition.
Reed is still in the top 10 in many of Kentucky’s all-time statistical records in women’s basketball. She holds the top berth in steals per game (2.7), is fourth in assists (3.9), and seventh in shots from long range (175).
