Prospect Season In Review: Rob Dillingham and Reed Sheppard

The two Kentucky guards ended their season off in disappointing fashion, but as a whole, their freshman campaigns ended up as massive successes.

Missouri v Kentucky / Andy Lyons/GettyImages

Now several rounds into the NCAA Tournament, sports fans have already gotten a glimpse of all that gives March Madness its name.

Perhaps the biggest story of the early stages of this event has been the upset the fourteen-seeded Oakland Golden Grizzlies pulled off against the three-seeded Kentucky Wildcats. Their Cinderella story came to an end in the round of 32, but the Horizon League champions won’t forget their win behind Jack Gohlke’s 10 3-pointers any time soon.

On the other side of this matchup, Kentucky underperformed in a lot of facets. Rob Dillingham and Reed Sheppard come off the bench for Coach Calipari, but have been two of the Wildcats’ best players and two of the nation’s best freshmen all year. However, in this one, they could never quite get it going. In 28 minutes of play, Dillingham scored just 10 points and dished just 3 assists while shooting 2-for-9 from the field. In 26 minutes, Sheppard made just one of his five shot attempts for a total of three points. 

While many held higher hopes for these two in tournament play, their disappointing performances hardly take away from their incredibly successful seasons.

Dillingham came into the draft cycle commonly seen as a mid-to-late first-round pick. Many were skeptical that the 18-year-old’s slender frame would quickly translate. But the 6-foot-2 ball handler promptly put many doubts to rest, averaging 15.2 points and 3.9 assists off the bench en route to taking home the SEC Sixth Man Of The Year award. Now, Dillingham is a mainstay in the lottery of mock drafts and has serious steam as a potential top-10 or even top-5 pick.

Sheppard wasn’t on a many mock drafts prior to the season, but he too has become a lottery mainstay with top-10 upside after winning the USBWA Freshman Of The Year award. Sheppard averaged 12.5 points, 4.5 assists, and 2.5 steals per game this season while shooting a scorching 52.1% from beyond the arc. 

Dillingham and Sheppard may not have gotten the end result they wanted from their freshman seasons, but considering what they did for their draft stock, both of their seasons successful.

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