“Got Fans Surprised:Jeff Sheppard ‘pumped up’ for the Mark Pope era to begin, ‘Jeff Sheppard ‘pumped up’ for This is going to be….
When the word began to circulate on Thursday night, Jeff Sheppard was standing in Rupp Arena, of all places. Mark Pope was slated to take over as Kentucky’s next men’s basketball coach.
The excitement of the moment had not subsided by the following morning.
“I am excited. I am ecstatic. Sheppard remarked, “This is going to be amazing,” early on Friday morning. His tone suggested that the person on the other end of the line was grinning from ear to ear.
Sheppard used the word “excited” multiple times throughout the evening to convey his excitement as it became apparent that Pope, his longtime friend, roommate, and former UK teammate, was going to take over the basketball program that had brought them together more than thirty years prior.
Pope’s old friend is overjoyed to have been formally named the Wildcats’ new head coach on Friday.
As part of “The Reed Sheppard Experience,” a camp event hosted by his son, the current national freshman of the year and second-generation Kentucky basketball standout, Sheppard, a two-time national champion at UK and the Most Outstanding Player of the 1998 Final Four, was in Rupp on Thursday.
Sheppard was clearly preoccupied with the news outside the building where he and Pope had guided the Wildcats to so many memorable moments, even if he was engrossed in the event. He remarked, “I simply grew more and more thrilled about it as the night went on and it appeared like it was going to happen.”
Sheppard had more time to process what was going to happen to the program that has meant so much to his family after the camp was over, and before Pope’s hire was formally announced.
