Husker Corner
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Meet the Husker Basketball Recruits: Jessica Shepard

By Rosalie Suggs

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**Part I of a 3-part series introducing the 2015 women’s basketball recruiting class at Nebraska. This series will introduce 3 very special young athletes and they are exciting!** Huskers are in action tonight at 7pm against Wisconsin on BTN Plus.

Jessica Shepard, a 6-4 senior at Fremont High School, is an AMAZING young athlete. She is currently ranked the No. 3 prospect in the espnW HoopGurlz Super 60 for 2015. As a member of the 2015 recruiting class (ranked 10th in the country) she was a big “get” for Connie Yori and Nebraska. Recipient of many awards and honors in her young basketball career has led some who are familiar with Nebraska girl’s basketball to conclude that she may be the BEST women’s basketball player to ever come out of Nebraska.

Who is Husker recruit Jessica Shepard? To begin with, she is a home state girl. Shepard was born in Fremont, Nebraska. She grew up in a family of basketball players including sister Taylor (senior 6’2″ post player for Midland University) and their brother, Clayton (a 6′ 7″ sophomore playing for the Midland men’s team). The family lived in Fremont until just prior to Jessica’s 5th grade year and then moved to Lincoln.

Jessica played basketball at Lincoln Southeast in her freshman and sophomore years. She and her team made it all the way to the 2012 Class A championship game losing to Omaha Central 36-35 on a last second free throw. A year later, she would help them win the 2013 Class A state title with a 65-57 victory over Bellevue West. Shepard averaged 24.6 points, 11.1 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 2.0 blocks and 1.8 steals in the 2013 season. In March, 2013 Shepard was selected for the Cornhusker Shooting Stars/Bison all-star team that played tournaments nationwide during the summer. That team finished the summer season with a national top 10 ranking and a 40-7 overall record.

When Jessica’s father announced to his family that they would be returning to Fremont to accept a new position as superintendent of Fremont schools, Jessica was surprised but accepting. She didn’t want to leave Lincoln Southeast, her teammates and friends but she knew this was a family decision. Besides, she would be going back to childhood friends. “When my dad told me we were moving, I was really excited just because I was going to get to play with the girls I grew up with,” Shepard said. “But I was also a little upset because I had gone to Southeast for two years, and we had success.”

The 2013-14 season was highly successful for the Fremont girls’ basketball team as they finished with an overall record of  22-4. The addition of Jessica Shepard, along with transferring sophomore point guard Rylie Cascio Jensen from Bellevue East, helped Fremont rebound from a losing season the previous year. Shepard averaged 30.4 points, 15.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists, and was named the American Family Insurance All-USA Nebraska state Player of the Year. Jessica spent her summer playing USA basketball where she won a gold medal in the 2014 FIBA Americas U18 Championship averaging 12.6 points and 3.8 rebounds per game.

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The 2014-15 season began with great expectations. Fremont has never won a state title in girls’ basketball. They were 4 -0 before participating in the Nike Tournament of Champions Dec. 18th in Phoenix, AZ. They came away with a 2 -2 record but Shepard was named to the All-tournament team. On Dec.16th, it was announced that the Fremont hoopster was named a finalist for the Naismith Player of the Year Award.

Life is often like a roller coaster with many twists, turns, ups and downs. One of those twists happened on Dec.29th, 2014 in a game against the Lincoln North Stars. In the third quarter, Jessica Shepard went down with a knee injury. Her teammates and her coach held their breath, hoping for the best. It was soon determined that she had torn the ACL in her left knee thus ending her season. Two days later she was posting on Twitter.

In early January 2015, Jessica had surgery to repair her damaged ACL. The Husker recruit who averaged 33.8 points over 9 game will end her career sitting on the bench. For now she is acting as cheerleader, mentor and motivator former teammates. Husker Nation wishes her a speedy recovery and look forward to welcoming her to Lincoln in August. GO BIG RED! (Part II: Rachel Blackburn)