Can Reed Sheppard Be a Competitor to Zach Edey’s National Player of the Year?

The Kentucky Wildcats lately decimated the Miami Hurricanes by a respectable margin of 95-73. What stood at the center of Wildcats’ exploit was their freshman Reed Sheppard. Sheppard pocketed 21 points with 5 rebounds and 4 assists. He also displayed his defensive game by executing three steals and 1 block.

Sheppard has been growing his performative skills with each match and some also regard him as a top contender to the Boilermakers’ center Zach Edey’s National Player of the Year going into the season. His stats would be the best indicator of how close he is to Edey.

Reed Sheppard: A ‘Fresh’ Man

Debuting against the New Mexico State Aggies, Sheppard announced his coming into the college basketball circuit by smashing 12 points in the 21 minutes he played. Sheppard had a 4-for-6 field goal tally with a cent percent field throw percentage. But it wasn’t until he played against the Stonehill Skyhawks that he demonstrated his complete skills.

Sheppard dropped a game-high and a career-high of 25 points against the Skyhawks. He backed his scoring skills with three rebounds and 7 assists. Overall, Sheppard had an exemplary 9-for-10 field goal tally and a 7-for-8 three-pointer score. With his eye-catching performance, Sheppard pivoted his team to a 101-67 victory over the Stonehill.

Sheppard by then was considered one of the top four players in the Kentucky lineup behind another freshman Rob Dillingham. But during the contest against the Miami Hurricanes, Sheppard proved his mettle and started being regarded as a force to reckon with.

The 2023 Kentucky Mr. Basketball stepped up for his team during their contest against the Kansas Jayhawks. He had a respectable 4-for-5 field goal and a 3-for-4 three-pointer. Sheppard smoked 13 points with four steals. He made the most of the limited opportunity he got since he could only play for 16 minutes. But his accuracy was commendable and he established himself as a big match player.

Against the Miami which was predicted to win the match, Sheppard propelled his team to their 7-1 record by besotting 21 points. He was given a career-high 30 minutes by Calipari that he utilized to the fullest, putting up an exuberant display of his skills and finesse.

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Sheppard basketed an 8-for-13 tally of field goals and a 5-for-9 three-pointer. Additionally, he also performed three steals with 5 rebounds and 4 assists. His talent was unmatched and stood the test against the combined abilities of his rivals Nijel Pack and Matthew Cleveland.

Zach Edey Returns

Meanwhile, the Purdue Boilermakers center Zach Edey has been exceptional this season. Looking at their matches, the Purdue can be said of riding high on Edey’s back. He has used his height to his advantage and averages a double-double in points and rebounds.

Edey has provided the impetus to his team for winning all their 7 games by totting a magnificent double-double in five of those matches. 

His heroics led his team to their first-ever Maui Invitational title when they edged past the Marquette Golden Eagles by a close margin of 78-75. He throttled four consecutive double-doubles in all the four games he played during the Maui, basketing 28, 25, 23, and again 28 points respectively against the Xavier Musketeers, Gonzaga Bulldogs, Tennessee Volunteers and Golden Eagles.

Edey has reached that stage for his head coach Matt Painter where he is given lesser gameplay time against some of the not-so-good teams, so that Painter can test other players. This is also a testament to the fact that Edey is their mainstay player this season and they want to try their players as a second fiddle to his exploits.

Overall, he averages a whopping 21.9 points with a towering 10.7 rebounds. It is interesting to note that Edey had won the National College Player of the Year (2023), sweeping all the major awards that season.

He seems to have started from where he had left last year with his hunger still remaining the same. His stats are quite close to his last season when he averaged 22.3 points with 12.9 rebounds.

At the same time, the credit for the Sheppard baller’s development goes to the Kentucky’s head coach John Calipari. Sheppard was ranked 79th in class of 2023 by 247Sports. However, with Calipari’s strategy and tactics, Sheppard has developed into a reliable player this season and is one of the best in the Wildcats’ armor. 

After their clash against the Miami, Sheppard was ranked number one nationally in effective field goal percentage with 85.9%. He occupied the second spot nationally in three-point percentage shooting 63.3% and was in the top 5 in steal percentage with 6.9% which means 3.1 swipes per game.

What makes him special is that he has a team-high of 65.2% from the field, and he is about 6-feet-3 inches. He is the sixth player in terms of game time at the Kentucky.

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If that changes progressively over time, Sheppard can make a real statement and challenge Zach Edey. Perhaps with DJ Wagner’s absence, the Kentucky will play Sheppard more, and thus he can occupy a decent spot in terms of minutes per game., and then be a close challenger to Edey.