Update on Reed Sheppard from his high school coach

Kentucky Wildcats fans everywhere have been hearing about the emergence of Reed Sheppard, who has been setting the state on fire in his sophomore season.

The son of Kentucky legend Jeff Sheppard is averaging 33.6 points a game with games of 50 and 54 points. He also averages 10 assists and four steals.

On Sunday, it was reported that Kentucky had contacted Sheppard, and Darrell Bird of CatsPause caught up with North Laurel head coach Nate Valentine to talk about the rising star.

Valentine noted that he hates people speculating about where he is going to go when they have no idea what is going on.

“That’s what I hate about people speculating who have no idea what’s going on,” Valentine said. “It’s funny that you see so much on social media that he’s going to go here because of this or go here because of that, but Reed is going to go where Reed wants to go. Where it’s the best fit. Where he’s comfortable with the coaching staff and the environment on the team.”

One thing that people have been saying a lot is the believed rift between John Calipari and Jeff Sheppard. Valentine made it clear that this just doesn’t exist.

“It just doesn’t exist. There is no validity to that,” Valentine said. “The headline is there to get clicks but read the article and it’s obvious there is nothing there. But that’s the world we live in.”

A lot of people expect Kentucky to offer Sheppard right away but since he is only a sophomore, they are not allowed to contact him directly. However, Kentucky has been in contact with people around him and Valentine noted that Kentucky is a different beast.

“It’s just the way they’re doing things at Kentucky right now,” he said. “They’re getting some of the best players in the country, so they don’t have to be public about their recruiting. It would be nice if everybody would just relax and let it play out, but people have a hard time with that.”

Jeff and Stacy have decided to put Valentine in control of the situation because they want this to be about the team and allowing their 16-year-old son to enjoy his high school season.

The North Laurel Jaguars are 14-0 on the season and will be in action again Friday night against Whitley County in Williamsburg. Go here to see the rest of North Laurel’s schedule if you want to try and catch a game this season.

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