By LARRY VAUGHT
It was not that long ago that Kentucky freshman guard Travis Perry of Lyon County was playing against Reed Sheppard of North Laurel in high school. Now Sheppard is positioned to likely be a top five pick in the NBA draft this week
“It’s wild. Reed was your dominant high school player and then he came to Kentucky and dominated college basketball as a freshman,” said Perry. “He’s going to be a lottery pick and that’s just insane to think about. I don’t think you really think something like that is fathomable until it really happens but I am very, very happy for him.
“He’s worked his whole life for this and that is the ultimate goal and now he’s going to get that accomplishment. It’s just crazy.”
Perry and Sheppard have known each other since they were youngsters but Perry knows the success Sheppard had at UK last season does not guarantee he’ll have the same type of first season.
“I try not to make comparisons. I just try and focus on what I can control,” Perry said. “I know that the opportunities will be different. I want to try and make the most of my freshman year and win as many games as possible.”
Sheppard became one of the nation’s most prolific 3-point shooters last season and continued to impress NBA personnel with his pre-draft workouts.
“I always knew he was a good shooter but whenever you have that much attention on you every game in high school, it’s hard to really get that percentage up and I think when he finally got to the next level and had so much spacing on the floor, it helped him,” Perry, Kentucky’s all-time leading high school scorer, said. “He had so many good guys around him he was really able to showcase his ability to shoot the ball.”
Perry’s father, Ryan, is the head coach of Lyon, which won its first state championship last season. While Ryan Perry didn’t project that Sheppard would be a top 10 draft pick or higher after his freshman season at UK, he did expect the former North Laurel star to be a major contributor immediately.
“I told Travis and anybody that listened to me ever since Reed committed to Kentucky way back when that he was going to be fine. There were the doubters but I was very strong on the kid is gonna play. He’s gonna be on the court,” the Lyon coach said. “He makes everybody around him better.
“He’s just an outstanding basketball player. He’s a really good one. I saw that coming and called that but I didn’t see it coming to where Reed would have the season he did. I was just just blown away with the stuff he was doing and the percentages in his shooting.”
Ryan Perry said Sheppard’s decision making helped make every player better when he was on the floor and he never forced bad plays or shots.
“I would not say he could not replicate that season again but it really was just amazing and that’s why he is going so high in the draft,” Ryan Perry said. “The thing is that all this could not happen to a better kid. We love the Sheppard family and we love Reed. He deserves everything that he’s got and is going to get. They are just good people.”
Ryan Perry knows many will want to compare his son to Sheppard next season. The coach doesn’t think that will bother his son.
“Travis is very confident in his game and what he does and brings to the table and the value he has. So I don’t I don’t think that he’s gonna go in trying to be like Reed,” Ryan Perry said. “He is gonna go in and he’s gonna want to work really, really hard. I think he expects that in every situation he’s been in.
“He’s worked hard enough to be able to affect winning where he was at and I think he expects to do the same thing at Kentucky. He knows the lottery picks that are at Kentucky. You gotta work hard. Nothing’s gonna be given. Travis wanted that. He felt like he was gonna show his worth and be hard to keep off the court.
“I don’t think he’s going in thinking I want to be like Reed but it would be amazing to have a season like that. He always wants to produce but what Reed did as a freshman truly was amazing and it’s going to be just as amazing to see him drafted so high.”
Fairleigh Dickinson transfer Ansley Almonor had already thought about how he might fit into coach Mark Pope’s plans this season even before UK started summer practice last week.
“I see myself fitting in perfectly, especially after the way the coaching staff spoke to me. But even more important than how they see me fitting in is how I see myself,” Almonor said. “I feel a perfect big, I will be able to come in and contribute big minutes and to winning.”
He averaged 16.4 points per game last season and shot almost 40 percent from 3-point range to give Pope a 6-7 wing who can stretch the floor.
Almonor is one of nine transfers on Pope’s first UK teams and he sees that as a plus, not a minus.
“That is what Coach wanted when he recruited this team. That is why I came here,” Almonor said. “Everybody will be fighting for minutes and to be better in practice. I love that kind of environment.
“That’s how you get the best out of your team and that’s how teams stay great when teammates go at each other. It makes for a great environment to have a great team.”
The Fairleigh Dickinson transfer also believes the experience UK has will pay off in close games.
“When it comes to closing out games in general, experience usually is a deciding factor,” Almonor said. “We have so much experience to help us. We do not have to worry about someone being in a position for the first time in a close game.
“Everybody here has played in big games. You do not have to worry about us having to learn how to close out a close game because we have already learned. We will go out there and execute to close out wins because of our experience.”
Kentucky defensive coordinator Brad White believes in “fundamental football” to try and force offenses into bad decisions.
“It is hard on offenses to stay patient and it is hard to stay patient at times defensively,” White said. “There are times to be aggressive and take your shots but also times you have to play smart football. When our players feel I don’t hang them out to dry, they play confident and fast.
“I know every series doesn’t pan out the way you want but we’ve had some good results lately and want to have more.”
White will have a veteran defense with experienced players not only starting but also in backup positions. However, he knows he must avoid the temptation to expand the playbook too much even with experienced play.
“Part of me felt like that last year with a lot of veteran guys coming back that I expanded the playbook too much at times. You are always learning as a coach and sometimes you push the boundaries too far and players are thinking too much and trying to be too perfect,” the UK defensive coordinator said.
“I want to let them play fast and free and confident and with their experience they understand where the cracks and weaknesses are. You have got to have wrinkles but if you play fast in the scheme where you can bait a quarterback or if they run this route this is what I do then you can be successful.
“You are always walking a tightrope having enough schemes but not too much to hinder the way a guy plays. I have not been perfect in that.”
Kentucky coach Craig Skinner readily admits he was very concerned with how Emma Grome of Loveland, Ohio, would handle following national player of the year Madison Lilley as UK’s setter.
“She is a super confident kid. She is undersized for her position but she has a large chip on her shoulder. She does not fear much,” Skinner said. “It has been cool to see all she has done.
“One thing that did concern me her freshman year was playing the same position as the national player of the year coming off our national championship season.”
He didn’t need to worry. She was a second-team All-American her first season and has earned All-American honors all three years at Kentucky.
“She is 5-8 and most setters are bigger and taller,” Skinner said. “She’s little like (former UK basketball star point guard) Tyler Ulis, but she can also see things develop like he did. She is always totally confident in her ability to deliver and goes about her business that way.”
Kentucky has continued its SEC championship streak during Grome’s career but doing that again her senior season will be more difficult with defending national champion Texas and Oklahoma both joining the conference.
“I love the fact that we have those teams coming into our league,” Skinner said. “Florida dominated our league for so long and had the target on them. Three of the past four national champions will now be in the SEC.
“I always want our team to be pushed and challenged to get to the next level. Adding those teams is good for us and the league. You can’t get comfortable. The challenge for us is to compete like we always have.”
Kentucky baseball did things this season it has never done by not only hosting a Super Regional but winning to make its first College World Series after sharing the SEC regular-season championship.
Pitcher Ryan Hagenow believes there’s no reason UK cannot be among the elite teams nationally every year.
“With the staff that we have, all around, not just coaching staff, training staff, our equipment manager — I’m close with everybody — and with the stadium and the fan base we have and Coach Ming leading the way, there’s no reason this team shouldn’t continue to have success,” Hagenow said. “I think it takes years to build that foundation, but I think we definitely built it.
Outfielder Nolan McCarthy, who scored the winning run in the Super Region to send UK to Omaha, believes the Cats “broke the barrier” this year.
“Just the incredible minds we have behind the program that go, not unnoticed but aren’t talked about as much, I think that’s the special part,” McCarthy said.
Quote of the Week: “I’m just telling you he’s probably one of the best shooting prospects I’ve seen in 20 years of doing the draft,” NBA draft analyst Ryen Russillo on UK freshman Reed Sheppard.
Quote of the Week 2: “I still love this UK Baseball team. Not ending the way anyone wanted but they still had a great season, made history and gave us memories that will last a lifetime. Thank you gentlemen,” Kentucky fan Krystal Dittus of Key West, Fla., after UK’s season-ending 15-4 loss to Florida in the College World Series.
Quote of the Week 3: “He is a lifetime learner. He is not a guy who quits learning and that is part of being a great leader,” former UK coach Keith Madison on current UK coach Nick Mingione.