BY LARRY VAUGHT
Only seven Kentucky players have ever averaged more than two steals per game in a season, including twice by Rajon Rondo — 2.56 as a freshman and 2.03 as a sophomore.
Cliff Hawkins (2.31), Rodrick Rhodes (2.30), Kyle Macy (2.23), John Pelphrey (2.18), Reggie Hanson (2.18) and Nerlens Noel (2.08) also averaged more than two steals per game. Noel was the only one to do it during coach John Calipari’s time at UK and the best single season total by a Calipari was John Wall with 66 before Sheppard surpassed that mark.
Sheppard trails only Rondo (87) and Wayne Turner (79) on UK’s single-season steals list as he has 78 in 31 games going into Southeastern Conference play.
Here are some other notable steals marks for you:
Single game — Cason Wallace, 8, vs. Michigan State, 2022; Ashton Hagans, 8, vs. North Carolina, 2018; Rajon Rondo, 8, vs. Mississippi State, 2005; and Wayne Turner, 8, George Washington, 1997.
Single season — Rajon Rondo, 87, 2004-05; Wayne Turner, 79, 1996-97; Reed Sheppard, 78, 2023-24; Rodrick Rhodes, 76, 1993-94; Cliff Hawkins, 74, 2003-04; Rajon Rondo, 69, 2005-06; Kyle Macy, 69, 1978-79.
Career — Wayne Turner, 238, 1996-96; Tony Delk, 201, 1993-96; Cliff Hawkins, 199, 2001-04; Ed Davender, 191, 1985-88; Jared Prickett, 187, 1993-97; Anthony Epps, 184, 1994-97.
If there is one thing coach Brian Hennecy thinks Kentucky football fans should know about signee Quay’Sheed Scott is that he always gives maximum effort.
“I think he will give you 110 percent every time he is on the field,” Hennecy said about the 6-0, 190-pound defensive back from Marion, S.C. “He is going to follow the coaching and give it all he has. He is ready to go to Big Blue Nation and perform. Kentucky fans should be excited for him and what he brings to the team.”
He was a four-star player at Marion High School who had 68 tackles, six tackles for loss, three interceptions and one fumble recovery in 2023 but also averaged 63.7 receiving yards per game and 53.6 rushing yards per game. He also led his 10-2 team with 23 touchdowns.
During a recent visit to South Carolina, I had a chance to talk to Scott about his decision to come to Kentucky and more.
Question: What is your relationship like with UK defensive back coach Chris Collins?
Scott: “Ever since day one he showed a lot of love to me. The last weekend of track season he wanted me to run a certain time for my 100 (meter dash) and I couldn’t get there because it was my first year running track. He’s been working with me and wanted me to come to camp. I went to (UK’s) camp and did well in drills and my 40 (4.4 seconds) and he offered me. Ever since then we have been texting almost every day.”
Question: Did running the 40-yard dash in 4.4 seconds at UK’s camp last summer surprise you?
Scott: “I wouldn’t say it surprised me. I knew my time was good but it did shock me a little bit when I saw the time. I ain’t going to be cocky but I knew I had a good camp. I had two picks (interceptions) and that stood out most. And when I got there everybody had on regular camp shirts but they made me take mine off and that made me stand out even more.”
Question: What was it about Kentucky that your mother liked so much?
Scott: “Basically my mom was going with my decision. I was telling her all about Kentucky and that I loved it there. Since coach Collins and coach (Mark) Stoops got a relationship with my mom, she felt like it was right for me.”
Question: Since you have a cousin (Cam Smith) playing in the NFL and a cousin (TJ Sanders) at South Carolina, has that inspired you in any way and how competitive is your family?
Scott: “I wouldn’t say competitive. We all want to be great and all want to be in the NFL. We compete but not against each other that hard.”
Question: How does your cousin (defensive tackle T.J. Sanders of Marion) feel about you picking Kentucky?
Scott: “He called me about that. He didn’t like that. Everybody here, though, supported me when I committed to Kentucky. They were saying that was a good choice for me and felt like it was the best place for me to go.”
Question: Did anything really surprise you when you visited Kentucky?
Scott: “No. It was different and I liked it. I wasn’t going to wait to commit because I loved the atmosphere and the coaches showed me a lot of love. Everything was great. I felt like it was home.”
Question: Have you had a chance to get to know any of the other players in your recruiting class?
Scott: “Our whole (20)24 class is in a group chat. We keep in touch. I am close to Stevie (Soles of Powell, Tenn.). Me and him were on official visits together. I feel like we have a great class. I can’t wait to see how we will do.”
Question: Will not enrolling early at UK like a lot of other players did be a big deal or not to you when you do arrive on campus in June?
Scott: “I feel like if you can play, you can play no matter when you get to the school. My coaches for Kentucky have been getting me in Zooms (calls) to help me get the defense down pat so by the time I get there I will be ready. They also send me workouts so when I get there it will not be new to me.”
Question: Have you spent much time with UK defensive coordinator Brad White and what does coach Collins tell you about the defense?
Scott: “I talk to coach White a lot. Coach Collins tells me I can play when I get there so I am working hard to be able to do that. Some people say coaches tell all recruits that but I know what I can do and that I can show out when I get there. With Dru (Phillips) going to the NFL, I feel I can fill his role.”
Question: Could you be the most underrated player in UK’s signing class?
Scott: “I guess you could say that. It’s fine. The coaches have seen me at camp and in person. They know what I can do. I don’t worry about rankings. I led our team in tackles. I just think I am an all-around player.”
Question: What do Marion High School do best to prepare you to be a SEC player?
Scott: “We won state my freshman season and that prepared me for what was coming next. I got used to playing with really good players.”
All-American setter Emma Grome is glad Kentucky has spring exhibition matches, including one at Transylvania University on April 5 against rival Louisville, to get a head start on next season.
“I am really excited about this season. We have mainly sophomores and seniors, so that is a nice mix of experience and youth,” Grome said. “We also have some really good recruits coming in. We are working on some cool stuff this spring.”
Kentucky has won seven straight Southeastern Conference championships but that streak will be severely tested next season when Texas and Oklahoma join the SEC. Texas has won consecutive national titles and two of Grome’s former UK teammates — Madi Skinner and Reagan Rutherford — will be playing for the Longhorns. Skinner transferred from UK after one season and has been on both national championship teams while Rutherford transferred this summer.
Texas also has been ranked No. 8 or higher every year since 2006 and have been to the Final Four 11 times in that streak.
“It will be different but an exciting opportunity with the new teams in the conference,” Grome said. “We won’t be playing every team twice next season I don’t think but we are always ready for a challenge.”
Kentucky could also get a boost from an overseas trip to Japan in May.
“We will get to play a couple of matches and explore a couple of cities in Japan. I have never been out of the country, so it will definitely be fun and a good team bonding experience,” she said.
Grome will actually make her first trip out of the country next month when she goes to Costa Rica for a NIL opportunity through the W1974 Collective, a group set up to help female student-athletes at Kentucky.
“That should be pretty cool, too,” she said.
The junior setter would like to think another “cool” experience will be getting to play in renovated Memorial Coliseum again. Kentucky played home matches at Rupp Arena last season due to construction work at Memorial which never had air conditioning but will when the renovations are finished.
“I am really excited about this. Air conditioning will be so nice even though at times it was so hot it really was a unique home-court advantage for us. Teams would come in and not be used to that heat (in August and September),” Grome said.
New York Daily News columnist Dick Weiss, who is in the National Sportswriters Hall of Fame, likes the talent on coach John Calipari’s team but he really likes freshman guard Rob Dillingham.
“He is the one college player in this NBA draft class most likely to make an (NBA) All-Star Game in the future,” Weiss said.
That was before ESPN updated its NBA draft rankings last week and elevated Dillingham to No 3 on its draft board with freshman teammate Reed Sheppard listed at No. 5 by ESPN draft analysts Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo.
“Dillingham is a bit of a polarizing prospect among NBA teams, but it’s hard to argue with the sheer star power he offers in a draft severely lacking in that category,” Givony wrote. “He has been just as aggressive and effective against high-level SEC competition, coming up huge down the stretch of several games for Kentucky despite continuing to come off the bench and being on somewhat of a short leash at times.”
Givony did add that some teams have questions about Dillingham’s size and how that might impact what kind of NBA player he will be.
Givony said NBA scouts also have concerns over Sheppard’s size and how that could impact his defense and ability to finish plays in the NBA. However, Givony pointed out that Glen Rice is the only first-round draft pick in the last 35 years that has shot better than 50 percent from 3-point range with at least four attempts per game like Sheppard is doing.
“Despite still coming off the bench, Sheppard has proved impossible to keep off the floor for Kentucky in SEC play, where he already has had several signature moments in cementing his case as the best freshman in college basketball,” Givony said before Sheppard’s 27-point explosion at Tennessee Saturday.
Other UK players in the latest ESPN draft rankings are D.J. Wagner (34), Justin Edwards (43), Ugonna Onyenso (51), Zvonimir Ivisic (60), Antonio Reeves (67), Tre Mitchell (71) and Aaron Bradshaw (72).
There will be only 58 picks in this year’s draft.
Adou Thiero, Jordan Burks and Joey Hart are the only UK scholarship players not rated among ESPN’s top 100 NBA draft prospects.
Kentucky coach John Calipari made it clear on his weekly radio show last week that he expects major roster turnover again for next season.
“This has been a fun walk. I’ve told everybody from day one, enjoy this,” Calipari said. “Don’t let anybody steal your joy and give you doubts. ‘What about this? What about that?’ Don’t let them, why? Enjoy these young people because at the end of the year, they’ll be gone.
“We’ll have another group. So enjoy this group and what they’ve become, what they are for each other, what they are for our fans.”
Givony already has Thiero at No. 27 overall in this 2025 NBA Draft.
“It’s all there for him. He’s gotten so much better,” Calipari said about Thiero. “He’s not even what he was a year ago and what he is now. And I still think he’s going to be 6-9. He’s probably 6-7, maybe a little bit bigger now. By the time next year rolls around, he’ll be 6-9.”
Quote of the Week: “The moment I stepped on campus Kentucky showed a lot of love. I just tried to do what I could in practice to get them ready for the next game. It has been a blessing. To get to play with your brother at any level means a lot,” UK walk-on Kareem Watkins, the brother of UK guard D.J. Wagner, on his four years at Kentucky.
Quote of the Week 2: “I have never received such a warm welcome. Believe me. We feel like we have a lot of friends already but if you think you are friends now wait until after November and I know damn well you are going to love us because we are here to win,” John Ray on Jan. 16, 1969 at the Lexington Rotary Club after being hired as UK’s new football coach before he went 10-33 in four years.
Quote of the Week 3: “I’ve got a couple of guys on this year’s team that probably could use another year but you know I’m going to support whatever their decision is (about the NBA Draft). But I’ll tell them, ‘Are you sure?’ Because there are two things you have to be. NBA: No Boys Allowed. N-B-A: No Boys Allowed. Are you mentally ready and are you physically ready?” UK coach John Calipari about the draft on former UK guard John Wall’s podcast.