The Kentucky Wildcats are entering a new era of the Men’s Basketball program as Mark Pope returns to Lexington to take over his alma mater.

Another former Cat who was extremely close to the program this past season was Jeff Sheppard, who watched his son, Reed Sheppard, play his way into a top-three NBA Draft pick while taking the basketball world by storm.

Recently, Reed gave his recruiting pitch to in-state talent for playing at Kentucky, and now Jeff has given his.

In a recent conversation with Jack Pilgrim of KSR, Sheppard pointed to the program’s ability to get you to the pros and allow you to play against some of the best talent in the county.

But it was his response when talking about life after basketball that might be the ultimate selling point.

“There’s just also something special about Kentucky when it’s all over,” Sheppard said. “Not that other programs don’t have that, but especially for a Kentucky kid, to play here and pursue basketball for however long that takes them, then they’re back here.

“Darius Miller is a great example of that. He’s done (playing) and now Darius is back in town as he pursues the next era of his life. Jack Givens, Kyle Macy, all of those — and I’m one of the guys. I’m not a Kentucky guy — and Kyle’s not a Kentucky guy, either, but some people think we’re Kentucky guys because we’ve been here so long.

“But when you’re born and bred here — if you were to walk into Reed’s room right this second, there are still pictures of Devin Booker and Tyler Ulis, (Rajon) Rondo’s jersey, Anthony Davis. They’re still hanging there.”

The Bluegrass state has produced some high-level talent over the last few classes, including current Wildcats Travis Perry and Trent Noah. Now that Malachi Moreno is on board in the 2025 class, Coach Pope and his staff are still looking to add a commitment from 5-star guard Jasper Johnson.

No matter the outcome of that decision, one thing is very clear: Being a part of the BBN is special.