Unsurprisingly, some other Kentucky freshman has declared for the NBA Draft.
On Thursday, cover Reed Sheppard introduced he’s forgoing his faculty eligibility on X, previously referred to as Twitter. Matt Norlander of CBS Sports activities reported he has signed with Ingenious Artists Company.
“Kentucky is a special place. College basketball is a special place,” Sheppard mentioned, via Norlander. “The decision was bittersweet for sure.”
Sheppard emerged as a celeb for the Wildcats extreme season. In 33 video games, the 2023-24 SEC Rookie of the Day averaged 12.5 issues, 4.5 assists, 2.5 steals and shot 52.1% from past the arc.
Of their original mock draft, ESPN’s Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo have the Memphis Grizzlies taking Sheppard with the 7th total pick out.
“The Grizzlies will surely be attuned to Sheppard (6-foot-3, 187 pounds) rating as one of the best players in this draft class from an analytics perspective, while also bringing the type of scoring efficiency the team usually covets in the draft,” wrote Givony. “He’d form one of the smallest backcourts in the NBA with Ja Morant (6-foot-2, 174 pounds) but could help ignite an offense that ranked last in the NBA this season in efficiency due to a myriad of injuries to core players.”
The Wildcats’ backcourt is in a circumstance of flux following Sheppard’s retirement. Kentucky freshman cover Rob Dillingham declared for the NBA Draft on April 9 and previous five-star retain DJ Wagner entered the switch portal on Monday.
A couple of recruits, together with cover Boogie Fland and tiny ahead Karter Knox, not too long ago de-committed from Kentucky next John Calipari left and become Arkansas head professor. Pristine Wildcats HC Mark Pope has his paintings decrease out for him.