Jeffrey Kyle Sheppard (born September 29, 1974) is an American retired professional and collegiate

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player.

Biography

Born in

Marietta, Georgia Marietta is a city in and the county seat of Cobb County, Georgia, United States. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 60,972. The 2019 estimate was 60,867, making it one of Atlanta's largest suburbs. Marietta is the fourth largest ...

, Sheppard was Player of the Year in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

in 1993 at McIntosh High School in Peachtree City. The

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical ...

guard (1993–

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

), was named Most Outstanding Player in the NCAA tournament in

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

in 1998. He played on two national championship teams at the University of Kentucky under

Rick Pitino Richard Andrew Pitino (; born September 18, 1952) is an American basketball coach who is the head men's basketball coach at St. John's University (New York City), St. John's University. He was also the head coach of Greece national basketball t ...

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

and under Tubby Smith in 1998. The success of his college basketball career did not carry over to the professional level. He played briefly in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

with the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Easte ...

during the 1998-99 season, averaging 2.2 points and 1.2 rebounds in 18 games. He later played professionally in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

with Benetton Treviso (1999–00) (won the Italian Cup), Cordivari Roseto (2000–01) and Würth Roma (2001). He played in the preseason games (but not in any regular season games) for the

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), E ...

in 2000. He cited the

September 11 terrorist attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

as being a factor in his decision to retire from basketball. Sheppard has served as vice president for business development with Wazoo Sports, a regional television sports network concentrating on sports in

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

. In 2010, he was involved with a project to restore video and audio of Kentucky's

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the thir ...

national championship team.

Personal life

Sheppard and his wife, Stacey (née Reed, herself a former Kentucky basketball player), have two children and live in London, Kentucky. They are involved with various community activities. He is the father of current

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA) ...

player Reed Sheppard.

References

External links

*
About Jeff Sheppard
@ mpcpromotions.com

@ ibiblio.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Sheppard, Jeff 1974 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Italy American men's basketball players Atlanta Hawks players Basketball players from Atlanta Basketball players from Marietta, Georgia Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball players Pallacanestro Treviso players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) People from London, Kentucky Sportspeople from Peachtree City, Georgia Point guards Roseto Sharks players Sportspeople from Fayette County, Georgia Undrafted NBA players Virtus Roma players 20th-century American sportsmen