“They wanted to be known as mom and dad” - Kentucky star Reed Sheppard opens up about growing up with Wildcats alums as parents 

Playing for Kentucky was on Reed Sheppard's path from the start. As it turns out, the Wildcats star was born in a family that's blue to the core. Both his parents were basketball players for the Univesity of Kentucky, and there wasn't any way that their son wouldn't follow in their footsteps.

However, as their son was growing up, they didn't want their legacy to cloud his path. In an interview on Thursday with Stadium's Shams Charania, Sheppard opened up on the matter:

“There was never any jersey or trophy hanging in the house. [My parents] didn’t want to be known as basketball players. They didn't want to be known as basketball players. They wanted to be known as mom and dad. And to me, that meant a lot, because they were there for me no matter what. It wasn't up until seventh or eighth grade I really knew about that."

Jeff and Stacey Sheppard both played for the Lexington school during the 1990s and had significant collegiate careers. Jeff Sheppard was twice a national champion (1996 and 1998) and the 1998 NCAA Most Outstanding Player. For her part, Stacey never won the natty, but she remains the program leader in steals per game with 2.7.

Reed Sheppard on his NBA combine performance

After a season in which he became the SEC Freshman of the Year, and was a Second Team All-SEC selection, Reed Sheppard seems headed to the NBA. He's considered a first-round pick by many, and his strong NBA combine performance all but solidified this.

Perhaps his strongest demonstration came with his 42-inch vertical, the highest of the event. After the combine, while making an appearance on Paul George's podcast "Podcast P", Sheppard said this of his achievement (via SI.com):

"I know I can jump, I didn't know I was going to have the highest vertical in the NBA draft. I got to give a lot of credit to my guy Ryan at Proactive. He kind of helped us out with a little arm trick. I was able to get a couple more inches. I looked up at the board, and when I saw 42, I kind of laughed because I wasn't expecting it, and I know no one else was."

Reed Sheppard is certainly a physical phenom and will be looking to exploit this in the NBA and look to achieve as much success as he did in the NCAA.