All Hogs

Kentucky Needs to Have Perspective Time to Time

Arkansas loss destroyed Wildcats fans, Rockets' Sheppard just casualty of bigger problem
Kent Smith|
Arkansas Razorbacks forward Trevon Brazile (4) blocks the shot of Kentucky Wildcats guard Travis Perry (11) in the first half Saturday Feb. 1, 2025 at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky.
Arkansas Razorbacks forward Trevon Brazile (4) blocks the shot of Kentucky Wildcats guard Travis Perry (11) in the first half Saturday Feb. 1, 2025 at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky. | Matt Stone/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Arkansas RazorbacksKentucky Wildcats

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — As the door closes on the Kentucky chapter of this season, one thing that may have passed by a lot of Arkansas fans Saturday night during the Razorbacks' dominant performance is what Wildcats fans consider an unforgivable case of betrayal by former guard Reed Sheppard.

Sheppard, who was drafted No. 15 by the Houston Rockets, spent game day donning his 20-year-old guy version of a mom wearing a split basketball jersey when her children play each other. In support of his former college team, Sheppard sported a pair of blue Kentucky athletic shorts with an Arkansas Razorbacks shirt.

Big Blue Nation predictably lost it, but his reasoning was solid. Sheppard grew up in Kentucky and played for the Wildcats for a single year.

However, that single year was under the guidance of now Arkansas coach John Calipari alongside teammates DJ Wagner, Adou Theiro and Zvonimir Ivisic, each currently Razorbacks basketball players.

"A lot of people are not happy, but that's my coach," Sheppard said. "I played for Coach Cal, so yeah ... I kinda thought it would be funny. You know, three of my teammates play for Arkansas too. Three of my teammates play for Arkansas. I talk to them every week."

However, that type of reasoning wasn't enough to keep Kentucky fans from snapping. It probably wouldn't have been that big of a deal had the Wildcats won, but once Arkansas posted a photo of Sheppard in his gear with the caption "Hogs on top," that was pretty much it.

The noise got loud. One man even described his son heading to his room and ripping down his Sheppard posters off the wall.

It's just one more sign that this was a much bigger deal for Kentucky than Arkansas despite all the whining about it being the Hogs' Super Bowl. There was only one side of this equation losing its mind from before until after the game while paying way too much for tickets and that team was covering Sheppard's backside.

Had this been a former Arkansas player instead, it wouldn't have been nearly the hate fest it was in Lexington. Imagine if Arkansas and USC were to align in a play-in game for the 11 seed of the NCAA Tournament this year.

It's a stretch, but, again, the key word is imagine. If former Arkansas guard Anthony Black were to show up with a half Arkansas and half USC jersey, Hogs fans wouldn't be banning him from the arena and burning his jersey.

They would get it. Musselman was important to his development and becoming a lottery pick in the NBA while the state of Arkansas provided the support in a team effort.

And that's without three former teammates in the equation. If Trevon Brazile, Makhi Mitchell and Kamani Johnson were somehow able to be on Musselman's team through the magic of creative eligibility rules, it would be even further understood and no harm would be done.

Calipari is now afforded an advantage in recruiting. All he has to do is show the long string of hate toward Sheppard and ask "If Kentucky fans are going to do this to a home grown kid who starred there, how are they going to treat you if you don't do exactly what their fans tell you?"

He can also mention how Mark Pope got hit with boos after the loss also to demonstrate how anxious they are in Lexington to turn on their own. It's just one more chink in the ultra-sensitive armor of Wildcats fans.

It's why they spent all year in the Arkansas message boards when Razorbacks fans couldn't understand what they were doing there. It's why Rupp Arena was the way it was before the game and with four minutes remaining.

Arkansas fans may live a life of hurt and having to expect the worst, but Kentucky fans seem bent on generating their own pain where there shouldn't be any. They're the rich kid complaining for all to hear the cold air made the tire in his Tesla two pounds less that recommended.

Not that the Hogs are this petty, but if Calipari dressed his guys out in red Razorback tops with blue athletic shorts against Kentucky in the SEC Tournament, Arkansas fans probably wouldn't mind. However, generic WIldcats fan will certainly explode, but that was going to happen anyway.

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• Petrino, Van Horn may find themselves in heated battle for Mr. Ohio quarterback

• Van Horn heaps praise on potential X-factor on Razorbacks pitching staff

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Kent Smith
KENT SMITH

Kent Smith has been in the world of media and film for nearly 30 years. From Nolan Richardson's final seasons, former Razorback quarterback Clint Stoerner trying to throw to anyone and anything in the blazing heat of Cowboys training camp in Wichita Falls, the first high school and college games after 9/11, to Troy Aikman's retirement and Alex Rodriguez's signing of his quarter billion dollar contract, Smith has been there to report on some of the region's biggest moments. 

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