Pope Prayers: Kentucky head coach ‘praying’ star will return to Lexington

Now that the NCAA allows collegiate athletes to benefit monetarily from NIL (name, image, and likeness) opportunities, staying in school has become increasingly justifiable, rather than jumping ship and taking your talents to the pro level the first chance you get to ensure financial security.

But the opportunity can be too much to pass up at times, and it could take way more than NIL deals to prevent a player from leaving, like resorting to a higher being to pray for the return of a star prospect.

As new Kentucky men's basketball head coach Mark Pope gets settled into his new gig with his alma mater, he is going to great lengths to convince star guard Reed Sheppard to return to Lexington for his sophomore season, even looking for spiritual assistance.

Kentucky HC Mark Pope 'praying' Reed Sheppard will forego the NBA Draft and return to Lexington next season

Pope made his debut call-in radio show appearance as the head coach at Kentucky on Monday, where he discussed Sheppard's pending future with the program and his options ahead of the 2024 NBA Draft. And he acknowledged that the 2023-24 SEC Rookie of the Year could be one of the first players selected if he elects to go pro now.

"Reed [Sheppard] is in that elite air status where he's a lottery pick," Pope said. "He's going to be the fourth or fifth or sixth or seventh pick in the NBA Draft. That is not something to be taken lightly. It's really extraordinary."

Pope understands Sheppard's draft stock can't get much higher (if at all) by staying at school for another year, so he hopes a higher power will be his saving grace and bring the sharpshooting guard back to Lexington, even telling the latter's father (who is his former college teammate and roommate) that he is praying to be pleasantly surprised as he awaits an official decision.

"I told Jeff [Sheppard] I'm spending a lot of time praying that God will call him [Reed] back to Kentucky," Pope stated.

Sheppard, a Kentucky native, was mightily impressive as a freshman. He averaged 12.5 points, 4.5 assists, and 2.5 steals per game while shooting an eye-opening 52.1 percent from beyond the arc, playing his way to being the No. 7-ranked overall player on ESPN's top 100 prospect rankings.

While it is unlikely Sheppard will return to Kentucky, Pope is keeping the faith.