ESPN analyst Seth Greenberg knows Reed Sheppard is a bad dude

Reed Sheppard (Les Nicholson Photo)

ESPN analyst Seth Greenberg is not “going to run all over the country” watching AAU summer games but he has seen enough of Kentucky commit Reed Sheppard of North Laurel to like him a lot.

“Reed Sheppard is a bad dude. He can flat play and has really impressed me when I have seen him,” Greenberg said.

“He can really do a lot of things. He is going to be a terrific player. He has a great understanding of the game, a great pedigree with his parents being former Kentucky players and a great passion about where he is going to school.”

Greenberg said he knew when John Calipari offered him a scholarship that he had to be special.

“John doesn’t just hand out scholarships. If he offered, I knew he was good and knew John knew he could help him win games,” Greenberg said.

Greenberg thinks Kentucky is going to win a lot of games this year, too, based on what he saw from the Cats’ play in the Bahamas. He knew what Calipari would get from Oscar Tshiebwe and Sahvir Wheeler. He also had heard plenty about the development of Jacob Toppin.

“It’s going to be big having CJ Fredrick healthy and the addition of Antonio Reeves gives them two players to stretch the court,” Greenberg said. “Daimion Collins has also really improved and gives them a shot blocker and very athletic guy. Their freshmen are fun to watch and really dynamic and Cal-type players with a toughness and edge about them.”

Greenberg understands Kentucky fans have been disappointed with how the last two seasons ended. He thinks this could be a happy year and points out UK was as good as any team in the nation most of last season and had a convincing win over national champion Kansas.