I watched North Laurel(Ky) play on prepspin.com. North Laurel played two games at Lexington Catholic(KY) over the weekend. I was checking out Class of 2023 guard Reed Sheppard(6'2" point guard). He's the son of Kentucky basketball legends Jeff Sheppard and Stacy Sheppard(Reed). Here's my evaluation:
Reed Sheppard- Slick ball handler, great passer, great free throw shooters. Gets into the lane and can finish with nice athleticism(posterized a Ashland Paul Blazer player on Friday). He can get his shot in the lane and finish with either hand. Good at straight line drives and step arounds(Euro step) to the basket. Is good at drawing fouls and getting to the free throw line where he's great at padding his stats there(over 90% from the line). He did not shoot a lot of three point shots in the two games but has a nice stroke from there especially off catch and shoot. He has great vision as a point guard in finding teammates for open shots and layups. Rebounds very well for his position as well as block shots. He did not show much creation of a three point shot off the dribble with exception of a couple of step back threes, one he hit the other he missed. He had a bunch of turnovers mostly trying to pass the ball to teammates. North Laurel has a high octane offense with a lot of possessions so expect some turnovers. He had few turnovers because of ball handling issues. I did not see many pull up jumpers in the lane, when he drove he was trying to finish directly at the basket. Defense needs work but not from lack of effort, in the Lexington Catholic game he had some problems with Ben Johnson Mr. Basketball favorite. The problems were too much helping off the ball and leaving Johnson open, or losing his angle to cut Johnson off from drives to the basket. He also had some problems finishing over length in the Lexington Catholic game. Some have said he does not have much upside in his game but I disagree. He can learn how to create three point shots off the dribble, get better with his decision making, and learn better angles playing man to man defense. North Laurel was blown out in both games but not because of Sheppard.
Conclusion: Bright future who should end up at least a 4 star, and if he can show shot creation to get off threes might end up a 5 star. High major power five college player in the future but has to clean up his turnovers. If he grows a couple more inches to 6'4" or so look out. His scoring in the games I saw were getting to the basket and scoring with either hand, or drawing fouls to get to the free throw line. He needs to shoot a few more pull up jumpers in the lane to help his finishing at the rim especially against Bigs. Future Mr Basketball candidate for the state of Kentucky. I also feel he should have stayed on the Nike EYBL Circuit playing for the Indy Heat. The Adidas circuit has some good players, but the competition is not near what the EYBL is. I think the Nike circuit would help his profile in the National Rankings for the next two years. I think Kentucky will come calling with a scholarship offer because he at least has the athleticism to play at that level.
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