One of the interesting offseason debates surrounding Kentucky basketball is which team former John Calipari players will support: Kentucky or Arkansas?

During the TBT, Willie Cauley-Stein answered this question, saying he is always going to be a Kentucky fan, but he will support Coach Calipari as well.

On the Sources Say Podcast, Sheppard was asked this question, and he gave the perfect answer.

Sheppard had this to say about who he will support next season on the Sources Say Podcast, “I don’t think it’s weird at all. Coach Cal is my coach, I still talk to him multiple times a week. He’ll text and call me and we’ll cut up here and there. It’s been good seeing him, and I’m looking forward to watching them this year, watching him coach. But at the end of the day, I’m a Kentucky fan. I’m from Kentucky, I played at Kentucky. I’ll continue to cheer for Kentucky no matter what.”

This is a little different for Sheppard than it was for Cauley-Stein because he was born and raised in Kentucky. Sheppard’s dad played at Kentucky, so he grew up wearing blue and white. Sheppard is loved by all in the Bluegrass State, so it is no surprise that he is always going to rock the Kentucky blue.

It is also understandable that he will stay close with Coach Calipari. Coach Cal turned Sheppard into the number three overall pick in the NBA Draft.

Sheppard is getting ready for his rookie season, where he will be a key player off the bench for a Houston Rockets team poised for a breakout season with a ton of young talent.

FRANKFORT, Ky. (WKYT) – While Kentucky lawmakers are not currently in session, that does not mean the Capitol is at a standstill.

Lawmakers are pushing to expand free meal programs to students in the upcoming session, and they say farmers will also benefit.

“We might have different ideas on how to educate and how to pay for that education, but we know that we want to feed our children, we know to educate them they need a full stomach first,” said Rep. Shawn McPherson (R-Scottsville).

Legislation to address food needs for Kentucky students, tied with the needs of Kentucky farmers, is already in the works for next year’s legislative session.

“If you can work for the schools and for the farmers and education and tie education and the farmers together, then I think that’s just a win-win for everybody,” said Rep. McPherson.

The bipartisan legislation is being sponsored by Rep. Chad Aull (D-Lexington) and Rep. McPherson in the House of Representatives and Sen. Cassie Chambers Armstrong (D-Louisville) is planning to file a similar bill in the other chamber.

“Everyone recognizes that agriculture is really important in Kentucky and anything we can do to support our small farmers is a really, really good investment of our state dollars,” said Sen. Chambers Armstrong. “Our hope is that by introducing this legislation, hopefully passing this legislation this year, we can get more folks on board and more folks excited so that when we roll out the program a year from now, everyone is really geared up and ready to take full advantage of it.”

The proposed bill looks to fill in gaps left by federal free and reduced meal programs. Schools are asked to pair up with local farmers to fill the stomachs of students, while growers harvest their treasured crops.

“We just want to give them a stable environment to say, ‘if you grow your product, we can get it from your field to their mouth’,” said Rep. McPherson.

Since the upcoming legislative session is not a budget-passing year, sponsors of the legislation say their hope is to get the framework passed so it can be included in the state budget that will be passed in 2026.

Copyright 2024 WKYT. All rights reserved.

Kentucky Wildcats Ranking: 28/134

[Check out RJ Young’s ultimate 134 college football rankings here]

Conference ranking: 10th in SEC (+10000 to win conference)
Teams ahead of them: Wisconsin (27), Miami (26), Iowa State (25), Iowa (24), Arizona (23)
Teams behind them: Arkansas (29), North Carolina State (30), Nebraska (31), SMU (32), Maryland (33)

[Kentucky 2024 schedule]

RJ’s take: Start with this: Mark Stoops has put the Wildcats into eight straight bowl games. If they make a ninth straight postseason appearance, defensive lineman Deone Walker will likely have quite a bit to do with it.

Walker, who was named a team captain as a sophomore, enters 2024 with a chance to end the year as a bona fide first-round NFL Draft selection. At 6-foot-6, 348 pounds, he led the team in tackles for loss (12.5) and sacks (7.5) in 2023. Teams won’t double-team him as often, with former Georgia linebacker and two-time national champion Jamon Dumas-Johnson joining UK through the portal. 

The jewel in Stoops’ 2024 transfer class has to be former five-star and UGA backup Brock Vandagriff, who could be the Wildcats’ most talented quarterback since Tim Couch, still the only 4,000-yard passer in UK history.

Maxwell Hairston was an “All-Slept-On” player in 2023, recording 68 tackles, five picks, 1.5 sacks and a forced fumble from his cornerback position.

And then there’s Barion Brown, who can flat out fly with the ball in his hands. He not only led Kentucky with 43 catches for 539 yards last season, but also returned three kickoffs for TDs and led the nation in return yards per kick at a whopping 36 yards on average. 

Kentucky Win Total Odds: Over 6.5 (-115) Under 6.5 (-105)

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