catmandoo
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Member # 1284
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posted 02-15-2021 02:55 PM
There is a high school basketball player in London, Ky., who isn’t just on the radar of Kentucky basketball fans, he is blowing up like a spring thunderstorm with bright oranges and reds filling the screen.
He averages 33.6 points a game, with recent totals of 50 and 54 points the lore of schoolboy legends. He shoots nearly 86 percent on free throws with 10 assists and four steals a game.
Typically, that would be enough to have the Big Blue Nation frothing as they long for their beloved in-state kids to don the blue and white. It’s a ritual nearly 75 years old and criss-crosses the Commonwealth from Cliff Hagan and Mike Casey to Jimmy Dan Conner and Jack Givens and on through Rex Chapman and Richie Farmer.
The player in question is Reed Sheppard, the son of two Kentucky basketball stalwarts. Jeff Sheppard was 1998 NCAA Final Four MVP and Stacey Reed ranks among the top 10 scorers in school history.
“Obviously, London, Kentucky, is big UK country,” said North Laurel coach Nate Valentine. “So I’m sure there are a lot of people that would love to see Reed go to UK.”
But there is more, a critically important side note in this conversation. Reed Sheppard is only 16 years old and a sophomore at North Laurel High School.
That, alone, should dampen the firestorm, but early indications are it will not. Thanks to social media, numerous predictions, assertions and outright falsehoods have oozed into the conversation.
“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.
“He’s going to make his decision and Jeff and Stacey want it that way,” Valentine said. “They want this thing to be about Reed and they want him to go where he wants to go. I’m sure they will guide him as parents, but they are not going to influence him by telling him where he can and can’t go.”
Link
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http://www.ukfightsong.com/
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