The Rockets went into Wednesday night’s NBA Draft with options to go in a couple of different directions.
They could have traded their No.3 overall pick or drafted the shooter they desperately needed. The Rockets chose the latter, selecting Kentucky 6-foot-2 freshman guard Reed Sheppard with the third pick of the draft.
Sheppard, a one-and-done player for the Wildcats, now has a chance to live his dream of playing in the NBA.
“I’m super excited,” he said. “They have a really good thing going in Houston. Coach is really good. They have Jalen. They have a bunch of really young athletic guys and we’ll be able to play fast and it’s going to be fun.”
Last season, the Rockets were among the worst 3-point shooting teams in the league, with a 35.2 percentage, so they would undoubtedly need to upgrade their shooting if they wanted to break into the playoffs.
Sheppard, whose parents Jeff and Stacey Sheppard also played basketball for Kentucky, averaged 17.2 points, 5.7 rebounds, 6.2 assists and 3.4 steals last season while shooting 53.6% from the floor, 52.1% from 3-point range and 83.1% from the free throw line. Sheppard, who turned 20 on Monday, ranked first in the nation in 3-point percentage with a minimum of 30 attempts
“We ended up with Reed as the best player in the draft by quite a bit, the best prospect we thought… and kind of the only guy we were really focused on,” general manager Rafael Stone said. “So if he had not gotten to us we would have probably traded down or out of the draft. When we had the opportunity to pick him, we jumped on it.”
TSU extends AD Dr.Kevin Granger
Clearly, the Texas Southern University Board of Regents is satisfied with Dr. Kevin Granger’s performance as vice president of intercollegiate athletics.
So much so that the Board has approved a five-year contract that will keep him around through 2029.
“I would like to thank our Board of Regents and President Crawford for having the trust and belief in me to guide our athletic department,” said Dr. Granger. “Texas Southern has played a pivotal part in my life and I’m honored to have the opportunity to keep building on the foundation. We are coming off another history-making season both academically and athletically and my goal is to continue elevating TSU to another level as I want to also thank the student-athletes, university faculty and staff and athletic staff for working together as a cohesive unit to ensure TSU remains at the forefront in this era of college athletics.”
Under Granger’s watch, the department has continued to maintain its high standards academically in the Academic Performance Rate (APR) and Graduation Success Rate (GSR) categories with record scores during his tenure. For the second time in three years, TSU has won the SWAC’s Academic Success Award which is an award based upon each member institution’s collective ranking in the categories of highest four-year Academic Progress Rate (APR) average, highest single-year APR average, and highest Graduate Success Rate (GSR).
SWAC announce major changes for men’s and women’s basketball
The SWAC recently held its annual SWAC Council of Presidents and Chancellors Spring meeting. Among the highlights of the session was a new postseason tournament guideline for men’s and women’s basketball, as well as a new scheduling format.
The league voted to expand the number of teams participating in the SWAC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments from eight to 10 teams on both sides for the 2025 tournaments. The 2026 Tournaments will feature all 12 men’s and women’s teams in action.
A new scheduling format for men’s and women’s basketball was also approved for the 2024-25 academic year. Women’s basketball league contests will be played on Thursdays and Saturdays, with men’s basketball games set for Saturdays and Mondays.
In football, the Conference Office will provide cutting-edge technology via sideline tablets beginning with the upcoming 2024 season. Teams will have the option of using tablets to view in-game video.
Tablets can be distributed on the sideline, locker room, and coaches’ booths to study the game broadcast feed and camera angles from a team’s sideline and end zone. The tablets can be viewed by all team personnel but cannot connect to other devices, project larger images, or provide data and analytics.
