Orlando Antigua in contact with Reed Sheppard

North Laurel High School guard Reed Sheppard is one of the hottest names in the Bluegrass right now, and rightfully so.

Sheppard burst onto the national recruiting scene by putting up huge numbers in his sophomore year. Along with being the son of former Kentucky stars Jeff Sheppard and Stacey Reed, he’s already one of the biggest legacy recruits for Kentucky basketball in recent memory.

There was some angst among Kentucky fans when there was no word of the school reaching out to Sheppard this week once open contact with 2023 recruits was allowed.

However, KSR’s Jack Pilgrim reports that new Kentucky assistant Orlando Antigua has been in contact with Sheppard, so there’s still clear interest between both sides.

The 6-3, 175-pound small forward is currently ranked as the 39th-best player in the 2023 class via Rivals, which also has him ranked No. 1 in the state while being a four-star recruit.

At 247, Sheppard is ranked 65th overall and second in the state as a three-star recruit, trailing only Louisville Male’s Kaleb Glenn,

For what it’s worth, Sheppard is currently ranked higher than Dontaie Allen, Dominique Hawkins and Derek Willis were coming into college. Those are the last three Bluegrass products to play at Kentucky. If you count Iowa transfer CJ Fredrick, who played at Covington Catholic, he wasn’t even a top-200 recruit and has already been a major impact player at the college level.

Back in March, 247 Sports recruiting expert Travis Branham got to see Sheppard in action. He had this to say afterward via Cats Pause.

“What stood out to me the most is his basketball IQ, feel for the game and his skill set. He’s a high-IQ combo guard who can shoot it and play on or off the ball. Having only watched film on him, he’s an excellent decision-maker with great vision. He sees the whole floor and is just an all-around basketball player. He’s really skilled and he knows how to play the game. He can get better in the pick and roll but with his ability to shoot and facilitate, if he can make the right reads and attack ball screens, he can take his game to another level and increase his stock.”

Currently, Sheppard holds offers from Arizona State, Iowa, Louisville and Texas A&M among others.

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