It isn’t like
Reed Sheppard of the Midwest Basketball Club needed to prove to myself or anybody else on the 247Sports hoops team that he’s deserving of a move up from his current ranking of No. 65 nationally. His play throughout the month of July and just before had already assured him of a nice bump when we update 2023. However, I did want to get one more look at the 6-foot-3 combo guard before closing out the summer.
Sure enough Sheppard didn’t disappoint. He banged jumpers from all over the floor, proved apt at creating for himself and others and once again showed off an impressive blend of skill and athleticism. What stood out to me most, though, was how hard he was playing and how much competitive juice he had left in the tank after what’s been a grueling three straight weekends of play against high level competition. You simply can’t fake that kind of love for the game and commitment. The guy doesn’t take a play off and never cheats anybody with his effort.
We haven’t even begun to discuss when we’ll update the rankings, but Sheppard has put himself into a position where I’d think he has to be considered for at least the top 35, perhaps even higher in his class. Everybody knows the Kentucky (assistant on hand) connections by this point, but Louisville keeps watching (
Chris Mack was on hand) as does Indiana (
Mike Woodson on hand) and Virginia (assistant on hand) remains a school to keep a close eye on.