Winston Shepard III (born September 22, 1993) is an American professional

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. He played college basketball for

San Diego State San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1897, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system. SDSU is ...

, where he was a two-time second-team All-

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States, participating in NCAA Division I. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The MW officially began operations on Ja ...

honoree.

High school career

Shepard attended

Findlay Prep Findlay Prep is a former high school basketball program located in Henderson, Nevada. History The program was created in 2006 by local businessman Cliff Findlay, who owns several car dealerships in the Las Vegas area. Despite closing its hig ...

Henderson, Nevada Henderson is a city in Clark County, Nevada, United States, about southeast of downtown Las Vegas. It is the List of cities in Nevada, 2nd most populous city in Nevada, after Las Vegas, with 317,610 residents. The city is part of the Las Vegas V ...

. As a senior, he led the team to a 32–1 record and No. 2 ranking by

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

. Findlay ended up winning the ESPNHS National High School Invitational title. He committed to

wanting "so bad," he said, to become the greatest recruit to ever sign with the school. 247Sports.com listed him as the 33rd best recruit in his class. Rivals.com, meanwhile, ranked Shepard as the 21st best player.

College career

Shepard was suspended the first three games of his freshman year due to receiving improper recruiting benefits. He admitted to not being fulling engaged while playing. His best game was an 18-point outing against

UNLV The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. ...

. As a freshman, Shepard averaged 5.7 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.9 assists in 20.3 minutes of play. Shepard was again suspended for one game in his sophomore season because he violated team rules. In the Aztecs' win over McNeese State on December 21, 2013, he scored seven straight points to ensure a victory. On December 28, he had a career-high 21 points in an 83-point rout of St. Katherine College. As a sophomore, Shepard averaged 11.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game. He started 34 of the team's 36 games. Ben Estes of

The Sporting News ''The Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a ...

wrote that "Shepard is able to do nearly everything, and that is especially true on defense, where his aptitude for matching up with almost any opposing player is a big boon to the Aztecs' swarming, stifling unit." Coming into his junior season, C.L. Brown of ESPN commented that "his outside shooting could keep him from being a potential All-American and Mountain West Player of the Year candidate." He was named second-team All-Mountain West as a junior. He led the team with 11.1 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. Following the season, Shepard decided to turn down a possible selection in the

2015 NBA draft The 2015 NBA draft was held on June 25, 2015, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. It was televised nationally in the U.S. by ESPN. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eli ...

and return to school for his senior campaign. He claimed he needed to work on free throw shooting and finishing around the rim. "I have a chance to be part of something that can really, really be special, whatever special is," said Shepard of his decision to come back. In 37 games as a senior in 2015–16, Shepard averaged career highs with 11.3 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game.

Professional career

Alba Fehérvár (2016–2017)

Shepard went undrafted at the

2016 NBA draft The 2016 NBA draft was held on June 23, 2016, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. It was televised nationally in the U.S. by ESPN, and was live streamed for the first time in NBA draft history by The Vertical. National Basketball Association (NBA) ...

, but played in the

2016 NBA Summer League The 2016 NBA Summer League consisted of three pro basketball leagues organized by the National Basketball Association (NBA): the Orlando Pro Summer League, Utah Jazz Summer League, and Las Vegas Summer League. Ten teams participated in the week ...

with the

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. Founded in 1946 i ...

. On August 28, 2016, Shepard signed with Hungarian team Alba Fehérvár. He helped the team win the

Hungarian Cup The Hungarian Cup (, ), officially known as MOL Magyar Kupa for sponsorship reasons, is the Hungarian cup competition for football clubs. It was started by the Hungarian Football Association'','' in 1909, eight years after the commencement of ...

title and the

Hungarian League Hungarian may refer to: * Hungary, a country in Central Europe * Kingdom of Hungary, state of Hungary, existing between 1000 and 1946 * Hungarians/Magyars, ethnic groups in Hungary * Hungarian algorithm, a polynomial time algorithm for solving the ...

championship. In 43 league games, he averaged 11.6 points, 6.1 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. He also appeared in 12

FIBA Europe Cup The FIBA Europe Cup (FEC) is an annual professional club basketball competition organised by FIBA for eligible European clubs. It is FIBA Europe's second level competition. Clubs mainly qualify based on their performance in national leagues an ...

games, averaging 10.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.1 steals per game.

Santa Cruz Warriors (2017–2018)

Shepard participated in the 2017 NBA Summer League 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 ...

. On December 21, 2017, Shepard was acquired by the

Santa Cruz Warriors The Santa Cruz Warriors are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Santa Cruz, California, and are affiliated with the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors play their home games at Kaiser Permanente Arena. Prior to ...

of the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the Minor league#Basketball, developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of ...

. In 19 games for the Warriors, he averaged 9.5 points, 5.9 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.1 steals per game.

Canterbury Rams (2018)

In April 2018, Shepard signed with the

Canterbury Rams The Canterbury Rams are a New Zealand professional men's basketball team based in Christchurch. The Rams compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at Cowles Stadium. For sponsorship reasons, they are known as Th ...

for the 2018 New Zealand NBL season. He was named Player of the Week for Round 4. In 18 games, he averaged 18.1 points, 8.9 rebounds, 7.5 assists and 2.3 steals per game.

Mornar / Maccabi Ashdod (2018)

On July 21, 2018, Shepard signed with Montenegrin team Mornar. He left Mornar before appearing in a game. On October 11, 2018, Shepard signed a one-month deal with Israeli team

Maccabi Ashdod Maccabi Ashdod B.C. () is a professional basketball team based in the port city of Ashdod, Israel. The team currently plays in the Israeli National League. History The team was founded in 1961 by "Maccabi Ashdod Sports Association", with the ...

as an injury cover for

Mark Tollefsen Mark Tollefsen (born November 21, 1992) is an American professional basketball player who last played for Maccabi Ashdod of the Israeli Premier League. He played college basketball for the University of San Francisco and University of Arizona be ...

. In six games for Ashdod, he averaged 12 points, 5 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game.

Westports Malaysia Dragons (2018–2020)

On December 6, 2018, Shepard signed with the Westports Malaysia Dragons of the ASEAN Basketball League.

Rayos de Hermosillo (2020)

In March 2020, Shephard played four games in Mexico for Rayos de Hermosillo. The season was suspended due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. He averaged 18.5 points, 11.0 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.8 steals per game.

Atomerőmű SE (2020–2021)

On June 30, 2020, Shepard signed with

Atomerőmű SE Atomerőmű SE, sometimes shortened to ASE, is a Hungarian professional basketball team based in Paks. The team plays in the Nemzeti Bajnokság I/A, the highest professional league in Hungary. The team was founded in 1979 and has won the Hungaria ...

of the Hungarian NB I/A.

Titanes del Distrito Nacional (2021)

In August 2021, Shepard had a five-game stint with Titanes del Distrito Nacional of the

Liga Nacional de Baloncesto The Liga Nacional de Baloncesto (LNB) is the top men's professional basketball league in the Dominican Republic. Established in 2005, six teams compete annually between September and October. History The league was founded on September 6, 2004 ...

BC Odesa (2021–2022)

Between December 2021 and February 2022, Shepard played in Ukraine for

BC Odesa BC Odesa () is a Ukrainian professional basketball club based in Odesa. The club competed in the Ukrainian Basketball SuperLeague (UBSL). Established in 1992, Odesa played in the SuperLeague for most of its existence until it disappeared in 201 ...

Southland Sharks (2022)

On May 6, 2022, Shepard signed with the Southland Sharks for the rest of the 2022 New Zealand NBL season.

Macau Black Bears (2023)

In January 2023, Shepard played one game for the Macau Black Bears in the 2023 ABL season.

FUS Rabat (2023)

In October 2023, Shepard made his debut for

FUS Rabat Fath Union Sport (), commonly known as FUS Rabat, is a Moroccan professional football club based in Rabat and currently playing in the first division. The club was founded on 10 April 1946. 'Fath Union Sport' is the name of the sports club whi ...

of the Division Excellence. He also played for FUS in the

Road to BAL The Road to BAL, also known as the BAL Qualifying Tournaments, are the qualifying tournaments of the Basketball Africa League (BAL). While the main tournament is co-organised by FIBA and the NBA, the organization of the qualifiers is completely do ...

tournament.

References

External links