By LARRY VAUGHT
Just when you think nothing else can surprise you about Reed Sheppard, something happens to surprise you.
CBS Sports recently released its latest 2024 NBA Mock Draft and Gary Parrish had Sheppard as the No. 2 pick to San Antonio in his list. He had another UK freshman, Rob Dillingham, at No. 4.
The Athletic’s Kyle Tucker noted Sheppard was the only player in the country to have 100 or more rebounds, 100 or more assists, 60 plus steals and at least 50 3-pointers in his team’s first 24 games this season.
Here’s what Parrish wrote about Sheppard in his mock draft:
“Nobody, and I mean nobody, had Sheppard projected this high — or even as a lottery pick — in the preseason. And, obviously, this is really high. But in a draft that’s been labeled weak, relatively speaking, for at least a year now, why not make a bet on a 6-3 guard who can dribble, pass, shoot and guard his position … He’s just a basketball player, plain and simple, and a super-impressive one even if he has mostly been coming off of Kentucky’s bench this season.”
Sheppard leads the Southeastern Conference with 65 steals, an average of 2.6 per game. He had five steals in the win Saturday over Auburn, the third time in four games he made five steals.
In UK’s first 25 games, he had at least one steal in all but one game. Sheppard has 65 steals this season, 12th best on UK’s all-time list. He needs 22 more steals to tie Rajon Rondo’s all-time record of 87. Kentucky has six regular-season games left and at least two postseason games. If he continues to average 2.6 steals in those eight games, he will become UK’s all-time single season steal leader.