well come back to Kentucky

KENTUCKY (FOX 56) — Former Kentucky guard and London native Reed Sheppard has signed a multi-year shoe deal with Nike, according to Sports Illustrated.

Sheppard, the third overall pick drafted by the Houston Rockets, joined former teammate Rob Dillingham, who also signed with Nike this fall.

Sports Illustrated noted that Kentucky is one of the select few “Mamba programs” in college basketball and Sheppard had started his NBA career wearing a rotation of Kobe shoes to start his NBA career.

Through the first five games of the season, Sheppard is averaging 2.5 points per game alongside 1.3 assists and 0.7 rebounds in just 8.3 minutes.

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While at Kentucky, Sheppard immediately became a fan favorite. He averaged 12.5 points per game while making over 52% of his three-pointers and nearly 54% of his field goals.

With the third overall pick in the 2024 NBA draft, the Rockets selected Sheppard, the former Kentucky freshman phenom and the son of former UK basketball players Jeff Sheppard and Stacey Reed Sheppard. Sheppard was the first of two UK basketball players to be selected in the draft lottery on Wednesday night: Fellow one-and-done UK backcourt star Rob Dillingham was taken eighth overall.