LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Sam Vecenie of The Athletic tracks prospects for the NBA Draft as intensely as Marc Weinberg and his WDRB team track the area weather. They're always looking for trends.
Less than six full weeks into this men's college basketball season, it appears Vecenie has uncovered one: John Calipari has clearly put together the most talented team in America on his 15th Kentucky squad.
On Wednesday, Vecenie posted a story while ranking the top-100 prospects for the 2024 NBA Draft. (Story link, pay site.)
Kentucky has seven players.
Connecticut, the defending national champion, has five.
Baylor, Marquette, Duke, Creighton and UCLA have three.
Nobody else has more than two.
The rest of the Southeastern Conference has seven — and five are in the second 50.
Considering Calipari's NCAA Tournament record is 1-2 since 2019, there is already ample unrest percolating around the coach, who will take the Wildcats to Philadelphia to play Penn on Saturday.
Losing that home game to two-loss North Carolina-Wilmington last Saturday merely re-ignited more drama around Calipari's ability to take advantage of the considerable benefits that come with directing a program with all of Kentucky's resources.
Now here is another serving of data that suggests talent will not be an issue to keep the Wildcats from winning the SEC and making a deep NCAA run in March.
Not when a prime talent evaluator says this Kentucky team has three of the top 15, five of the top 50 and seven of the top 75 NBA prospects for the next draft.
While watching the Wildcats, Vecenie has observed what you and I have observed: Reed Sheppard, a sub for the first seven games, is Kentucky's best NBA prospect.
Vecenie put Sheppard No. 6 on his big board. The only college players ranked ahead of Sheppard are USC guard Isaiah Collier (No. 1) and Colorado wing Cody Williams (No. 5). The other three guys play overseas.
The six other Kentucky players on the board are ranked in this order:
- No. 14: Justin Edwards
- No. 15: Rob Dillingham
- No. 32: D.J. Wagner
- No. 44: Aaron Bradshaw
- No. 64: Adou Thiero
- No. 73: Antonio Reeves
(For the record, the only other local player ranked by Vecenie was Indiana center Kel' El Ware at No. 36, one spot behind Purdue's player of the year center Zach Edey. IU freshman Mackenzie Mgbako, an AAU teammate of Wagner and Bradshaw who said he plans to play in the NBA next season, did not make the top 100.)
Sheppard played his way to No. 6 with his sizzling start: 61.1% three-point shooting, 11-11 from the line and three games with 21 or more points.
Vecenie's fascination with Sheppard earned the UK freshman an eight-paragraph breakout analysis in his story. He said Sheppard has "clearly" been the best freshman in college basketball this season and that, "in terms of deriving value for his team, I don't think it's all that close."
He used words like "phenomenal," "appealing," "elite shooter," "impeccable sense of anticipation," and "unbelievable hand-eye coordination," while lauding Sheppard's breakout performance.
Comparisons to other players are part of the talent evaluation game. Vecenie rolled out names ranging from Steph Curry to Austin Reaves, from J.J. Redick to Trae Young.
Finding flaws is an inevitable part of the process. Vecenie wrote that Sheppard has work to do on his ball-handling, passing and defense. He questions if Sheppard is actually as tall as his listed height: 6 feet, 3 inches.
Hey, Sheppard is only eight games into his college career with precisely one start — the Wilmington defeat.
But if you came into this season without Sheppard on your list of likely one-and-dones on Calipari's roster while hoping he would be a three- or four-year guy, you might have to shift your outlook.
Vecenie wrote that Sheppard has been his "favorite player in the country to watch so far in college hoops."
And consider this his overall assessment:
"Everything Sheppard does well is at a premium in today's NBA. Only a few front-office executives have told me they are quite this high on Sheppard, but many more said they'd have a hard time seeing him picked outside the lottery (top 14 selections). Other view him as more of a mid- or late-first-rounder."
Sheppard has become the lead piece in what Vecenie believes is the most talented college basketball team in the country.
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