IN THE NEWS ball camp for 11 years. When the floods occurred in 2022, the full Sheppard family assisted affected families alongside their church, Faith Assembly Church of God.
“ It is only fitting that the Laurel County Wellness Park now features the Sheppard Family Basketball Courts, along with the names of student athletes and coaches who pursued excellence for generations. We have enormous talent in the mountains and it is a joy to see our region in the national spotlight as a result of such wonderful athletes and leaders,” Smoot said on behalf of Rogers.
Messages from UK men’ s and women’ s head coaches and Mark Pope and Kenny Brooks were also read aloud.
“ There are few places I would rather be than in the presence of Big Blue Nation and hometown greats like the Sheppards, but as they say, duty calls,” Brooks wrote.“ This is a family that has a passion for their hometown and a passion for this state, and that’ s both admirable and contagious.”
“ I cannot think of a more deserving family to be honored today than my friends, the Sheppards. Jeff and Stacey have been important people in my life over the years,” Mark Pope wrote.“ Their love for their family and community has always been so evident in all that they do. I’ m sorry that I wasn’ t able to be here today, but on behalf of the University of Kentucky and our basketball program, I want to thank [ State ] Senator [ Brandon ] Storm for gathering the community to honor a family that not only means a lot to me but to the entire Commonwealth.”
Reed Sheppard signed the belongings of his supporters.
Following the reading of these messages, Laurel County’ s own Lisa Collins was recognized. Collins was named Miss Kentucky Basketball in 1980. Prior to this, Lisa’ s team won three consecutive KHSAA state championships. She scored 140 Sweet Sixteen career points.
“ She helped create a legacy at Laurel County, which holds a record for the most KHSAA state tournament championships with five, and the most consecutive wins with 73,” Travis Shortt, Tourism’ s Director of Public Relations and Events( PR) and emcee of the ceremony, read about Collins.
She was a four-year star in the‘ 80s, playing 115 career games and scoring a total of 952 points. A group of family members were in attendance to represent Collins, who passed away in April 2022.
Walt Allen, who was in attendance, was then recognized for being the 2006 Mr. Kentucky Basketball. His senior year, Allen averaged 15 points and nine rebounds. Shortt also shared,“ He is in the school’ s all-time leading score, with over 1,900 points and guided the Cardinals to their first state title in 2005. He was named the Tournament MVP in 2005.”
Reed Sheppard was also recognized for being named 2023’ s Mr. Kentucky Basketball. Shortt recalled how Reed became the first American player selected in the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft, received multiple awards during his last season, named the McDonald’ s All-American during his senior year at North Laurel, and the nation’ s No. 22 overall player in the class of 2023, according to ESPN.
Then honored was Coach Roy Bowling, who guided the Lady Cardinals from 1974 to 1989. Coach Bowling’ s teams over those 15 years collected 403 wins and only 61 losses. His teams won 19 district titles, eight regional titles, and four state titles.
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