Maybe some fans have been surprised by the way Sheppard can play defense. However, freshman teammate D.J. Wagner knew what was coming.
“That’s what he does in practice,” Wagner said. “Now you all are seeing it. You all are seeing how much of a threat he is defensively, how great of a player he is defensively.”
Sheppard’s instincts and athleticism made him a good player at North Laurel High School. He’s second all-time in Kentucky in career steals. He’s also shown he can block shots, especially from 3-point range, like he did in high school.
“It must be exhausting to have Reed Sheppard guarding you,” ESPN/SEC Network announcer Tom Hart said. “He never lets up.”
Sheppard said daily practices forced him to get even better defensively.
“That’s the good thing about being at Kentucky. I get to guard Robert (Dillingham) and D.J., Antonio (Reeves), Justin (Edwards) — whoever it is in practice — every single day,” Sheppard said. “Sometimes it’s not fun at all, because they’re all really, really good players.
“You just get better. Every day, you compete. So being able to do that against them in practice is a really good benefit about being at Kentucky. You get to go against the best players in the world every day.”
Wagner credits Sheppard for making him better.
“It just makes you a lot more sharp knowing you gotta make the right pass or knowing that you can’t turn your head, even for a little bit because he’s gonna take it from you. I feel like it makes all of us a lot better,” Wagner said. “He’s aggressive, disrupting, getting all kinds of steals.”
Sheppard also became the first freshman to score at least 25 points, make seven 3-pointers and miss just one shot in Division I since 2018 with his performance against Stonehill. If you add the seven assists he also had he became just the second college player since 2011 to have that stat line.
***
Former Kentucky all-SEC defensive lineman Dennis Johnson has been around a lot of special athletes during his collegiate and professional playing career as well as his high school coaching career.
His son, Jasper, now plays for Link Academy after transferring from Woodford County and is one the top players in the 2025 recruiting class. During last summer’s AAU play, Jasper Johnson was on the same team as new Kentucky commit Jayden Quaintance.
“When we first went to Team Thad, the first time I saw this kid (Quaintance) he just dominated and I went up and shook his hand. That’s how good I thought he was,” Dennis Johnson, the athletics director and head football coach at Woodford, said. “He’s a very skilled big guy to be so young (16).
“He can shoot. He can dribble. I have not seen a kid like that in a long time. He is 6-10 with a great body for a kid only 16 years old. He is going to be a phenomenal talent.”
Dennis Johnson believes Quaintance can guard anyone from a two guard to center. He has no glaring weakness with the way he can shoot, rebound, dribble and fit into various systems.
“I have seen him play a lot and he was always dominant,” Johnson said. “He’s not very talkative but Jasper said he was a great teammate and plays the right way. It’s just that is not a very vocal guy yet.”
Johnson believes Quaintance has a chance to be “very special once he gets in a system and can hone” what he does playing for a coach like John Calipari.
“I think he is a 5 (center) but he is one of those European type players that runs rim to rim. He wants to shoot the 3. He can take the ball off the rim and go the length of the court. When you see his coordination and how big his body is, it’s just hard to believe he’s that young,” Johnson said.
* * *
Liam Coen came to Kentucky from the LA Rams for the 2021 season, helped UK win 10 games and then returned to the Rams for the 2022 season as offensive coordinator. However, he missed Kentucky and college football, so he came back this season.
He knows the strain that put on his wife, Ashley, and young son, Jackson, and that he is “extremely lucky” she understands his job.
“I probably wouldn’t be in the position I am now in life if it was not for my wife. She never was in the football space. She was extremely successful in what she was doing in life. She was making more money than I was in life when we met,” Coen said.
“I really learned from her. I learned how to be a man from my wife. It was hard. Her whole life was in California. Her friends, she was there for 12 years. Her mom is in Vegas. It was hard as a family to make that decision but she felt the same thing that I felt that this felt more like home. The people in Kentucky are just different.”
He still remembers coming to Kentucky in 2021 and his first meal in Lexington was at Texas Roadhouse.
“There were probably a lot of other steakhouses we could have gone to but she worked at a Texas Roadhouse in college. We went there and our waiter was the kindest waiter I have ever had,” Coen said. “You could tell that it was just something he enjoyed and loved to do and he was so kind.
“The people in this state, from what we felt as family, are so supportive. I am from Rhode Island and lived in California. Football ain’t that big. But I always wanted big. I begged my dad to move to Texas. That is what I grew up wanting to do. I read the book ‘Friday Night Lights.’ Not the movie or the show. He used to read that book to me when I was a kid.”
Coen said he always wanted to live where people love football and sports in general like they do in Kentucky.
“That’s why it will never get old being at a place that truly cares and is passionate about it. That’s what we love about Kentucky and why moving here was a no-brainer for us,” Coen said.
* * *
Taylor County offensive lineman Hayes Johnson is taking a few weeks off to let his body recover but will continue to lift weights to prepare for his early enrollment at Kentucky in January.
His season ended in the Class 4A playoffs with a second-round to Corbin and twins Jerod and Jacob Smith, both UK commits like him.
“I came back for a fifth year (of high school) to get better and going against guys like the Smith twins in a game definitely helped me do that,” Johnson said. “It’s hard to work on pass blocking a lot in high school but I felt like I did get better.
“I just want to live life, hunt and do a few fun things next few weeks before I get to UK because I know what the work will be like then but I can’t wait to be part of it.”
* * *
Quote of the Week: "We thought they'd spread us and drive us, and they spread us and drove us. That's going to be a hard team to deal with. Cal's got a really good bunch,” Kansas coach Bill Self after his team's win over Kentucky.
Quote of the Week 2: “You used to look for offensive lineman who were just big meatheads who could just block people and get in the way. Now those kids are arguably the most intelligent kids on offense. We are looking for high football IQ kids in the offensive line. They need to communicate and make all calls in the run game and pass protection. They have to be able to come on the sideline and tell the coach what is and is not working,” UK offensive coordinator Liam Coen on recruiting offensive linemen.
Quote of the Week 3: “He’s a freak of nature. He does things that no one in the world can do, not even guys in the NBA in terms of pure shot-blocking, pure vertical spacer. He gets way over the rim. He blocks shots, an unbelievable teammate,” Kentucky assistant coach Chin Coleman on signee Somto Cyril.
His son, Jasper, now plays for Link Academy after transferring from Woodford County and is one the top players in the 2025 recruiting class. During last summer’s AAU play, Jasper Johnson was on the same team as new Kentucky commit Jayden Quaintance.
“When we first went to Team Thad, the first time I saw this kid (Quaintance) he just dominated and I went up and shook his hand. That’s how good I thought he was,” Dennis Johnson, the athletics director and head football coach at Woodford, said. “He’s a very skilled big guy to be so young (16).
“He can shoot. He can dribble. I have not seen a kid like that in a long time. He is 6-10 with a great body for a kid only 16 years old. He is going to be a phenomenal talent.”
Dennis Johnson believes Quaintance can guard anyone from a two guard to center. He has no glaring weakness with the way he can shoot, rebound, dribble and fit into various systems.
“I have seen him play a lot and he was always dominant,” Johnson said. “He’s not very talkative but Jasper said he was a great teammate and plays the right way. It’s just that is not a very vocal guy yet.”
Johnson believes Quaintance has a chance to be “very special once he gets in a system and can hone” what he does playing for a coach like John Calipari.
“I think he is a 5 (center) but he is one of those European type players that runs rim to rim. He wants to shoot the 3. He can take the ball off the rim and go the length of the court. When you see his coordination and how big his body is, it’s just hard to believe he’s that young,” Johnson said.
* * *
Liam Coen came to Kentucky from the LA Rams for the 2021 season, helped UK win 10 games and then returned to the Rams for the 2022 season as offensive coordinator. However, he missed Kentucky and college football, so he came back this season.
He knows the strain that put on his wife, Ashley, and young son, Jackson, and that he is “extremely lucky” she understands his job.
“I probably wouldn’t be in the position I am now in life if it was not for my wife. She never was in the football space. She was extremely successful in what she was doing in life. She was making more money than I was in life when we met,” Coen said.
“I really learned from her. I learned how to be a man from my wife. It was hard. Her whole life was in California. Her friends, she was there for 12 years. Her mom is in Vegas. It was hard as a family to make that decision but she felt the same thing that I felt that this felt more like home. The people in Kentucky are just different.”
He still remembers coming to Kentucky in 2021 and his first meal in Lexington was at Texas Roadhouse.
“There were probably a lot of other steakhouses we could have gone to but she worked at a Texas Roadhouse in college. We went there and our waiter was the kindest waiter I have ever had,” Coen said. “You could tell that it was just something he enjoyed and loved to do and he was so kind.
“The people in this state, from what we felt as family, are so supportive. I am from Rhode Island and lived in California. Football ain’t that big. But I always wanted big. I begged my dad to move to Texas. That is what I grew up wanting to do. I read the book ‘Friday Night Lights.’ Not the movie or the show. He used to read that book to me when I was a kid.”
Coen said he always wanted to live where people love football and sports in general like they do in Kentucky.
“That’s why it will never get old being at a place that truly cares and is passionate about it. That’s what we love about Kentucky and why moving here was a no-brainer for us,” Coen said.
* * *
Taylor County offensive lineman Hayes Johnson is taking a few weeks off to let his body recover but will continue to lift weights to prepare for his early enrollment at Kentucky in January.
His season ended in the Class 4A playoffs with a second-round to Corbin and twins Jerod and Jacob Smith, both UK commits like him.
“I came back for a fifth year (of high school) to get better and going against guys like the Smith twins in a game definitely helped me do that,” Johnson said. “It’s hard to work on pass blocking a lot in high school but I felt like I did get better.
“I just want to live life, hunt and do a few fun things next few weeks before I get to UK because I know what the work will be like then but I can’t wait to be part of it.”
* * *
Quote of the Week: "We thought they'd spread us and drive us, and they spread us and drove us. That's going to be a hard team to deal with. Cal's got a really good bunch,” Kansas coach Bill Self after his team's win over Kentucky.
Quote of the Week 2: “You used to look for offensive lineman who were just big meatheads who could just block people and get in the way. Now those kids are arguably the most intelligent kids on offense. We are looking for high football IQ kids in the offensive line. They need to communicate and make all calls in the run game and pass protection. They have to be able to come on the sideline and tell the coach what is and is not working,” UK offensive coordinator Liam Coen on recruiting offensive linemen.
Quote of the Week 3: “He’s a freak of nature. He does things that no one in the world can do, not even guys in the NBA in terms of pure shot-blocking, pure vertical spacer. He gets way over the rim. He blocks shots, an unbelievable teammate,” Kentucky assistant coach Chin Coleman on signee Somto Cyril.
