LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Be prepared to make a dynamic addition to your basketball-viewing calendar:
Plans are nearly complete for an AAU game matching D.J. Wagner and the New Jersey Scholars against Reed Sheppard and Gabe Cupps of the Midwest Basketball Club at 7 p.m. May 27 at Valley High School.
Wagner is the grandson of former Cardinal Milt Wagner. He is also considered the top recruit in the high school class of 2023 and already in the middle of an intense recruiting battle between coach Kenny Payne and the University of Louisville and John Calipari and the University of Kentucky.
Sheppard is the son of former UK Final Four Most Outstanding Player Jeff Sheppard and his wife, Stacey, also a former UK basketball star. Shepherd orally committed to UK last November.
Cupps, a guard from Dayton, Ohio, is the reigning Ohio Mr. Basketball. He orally committed to Mike Woodson and Indiana over Ohio State and Stanford last November.
“We’re going to have a red section and a blue section and we expect to sell it out,” said Pervis Ellison, the former Louisville star, who is the program director for the New Jersey Scholars. “I’m sure fans will dress in their favorite colors and show all the players on both teams the intense love that people in Louisville have for basketball.”
Ellison was voted the Most Outstanding Player of the 1986 Final Four when he led U of L to the NCAA title. Three years later, he was the first pick in the NBA Draft. Payne was his teammate and best friend all four seasons with the Cards.
On Friday, Ellison and the three New Jersey Scholars teams were en route to Virginia for another AAU event.
Ellison said official confirmation of the game should come Monday but he was confident it would be played because he is bringing his teams to Louisville that weekend for a NIKE-sponsored EYBL event May 28-30 at the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center. Ellison said there were also plans to live-stream the game.
The Midwest Basketball Club is an Adidas-sponsored program that cannot participate in the Nike event. Ellison and others went to work to arrange a game to match Wagner and his powerful team against Sheppard’s squad.
“Considering all the interest in D.J. with Louisville and Kentucky recruiting him, and Reed Sheppard’s connections to Kentucky, the game is a natural,” Ellison said.
Wagner led the Scholars to a 7-1 record in their first two EYBL events in the 17-and-under division this spring.
Wagner is 6 feet, 3 inches tall, weighing 165 pounds. He’s been ranked the top player in the Class of 2023 for more than two years and led Camden High School to a New Jersey State title this season. He’s the top scorer in EYBL play at 21.3 points per game. He is the son of Dajuan Wagner, who was taken sixth in 2002 NBA Draft after he played one season for Calipari at Memphis.
When I talked to D.J. Wagner at the EYBL event in suburban Indianapolis three weeks ago, he mentioned U of L, UK, Villanova, Syracuse, Michigan and Arkansas among the dozens of programs recruiting him.
Aaron Bradshaw, who also plays for the Scholars and Camden High, is being recruited by Kentucky and Louisville. Bradshaw is 7 feet tall and 210 pounds, ranked the No. 24 prospect by 247Sports. He ranks second in EYBL play with 3.3 blocks per game.
A third Scholars player, forward Mackenzie Mgbako, orally committed to Duke in early April. He’s the third-leading EYBL scorer at 21.0 points per game. Mgbako is ranked No. 2 in the class by 247.
Ellison said other players on his 17-and-under squad are being recruited by Division I programs and that his 17-, 16- and 15-and-under teams combined to lose only one game at events in Orlando, Florida and Indianapolis.
I asked Ellison if the Scholars 17-and-under team will be one of the favorites to win the national title at the 26th Annual Peach Jam EYBL Nike event, which begins July 17 in North Augusta, South Carolina.
“One of the favorites?” Ellison said. “We are the favorite.”
Sheppard is 6 feet, 3 inches tall, 170 pounds and ranked the No. 22 prospect in the Class of 2023 by 247Sports. He was voted the Gatorade Kentucky Player of the Year during his junior season and is the frontrunner for Mr. Basketball next year.
Sheppard averaged 25.5 points, 7.6 assists, 6.8 rebounds and 4.4 steals for North Laurel High School, where he has scored 2,917 points.
At 6 feet, 2 inches tall and 165 pounds, Cupps led Centerville High School to 45 consecutive wins and a runner-up finish in the Ohio Division I tournament, which Centerville won in 2021.
Cupps averaged 14.3 points, 6.8 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 2 steals. He is ranked 82nd in his class by 247Sports.
“It should be an experience,” Ellison said. “I’m excited about bringing my players back to where I played and they have my jersey on the wall.”
Related Stories:
Copyright 2022 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.
