Shepard builds flock among college scouts

Winston Shepard might be the Swiss Army knife of the college basketball recruiting season.

The Findlay Prep swingman showed his versatility Sunday, as he sliced through defenders in transition, found the open man with ease and held his own in the paint.

“I feel like I can play the 'one’ through the 'five,’ ” Shepard said of his ability to play point guard through center. “(To) the colleges that have been recruiting me, I think it’s a big plus.”

It’s one of the reasons Shepard, who will be a junior at Findlay Prep next season, was a main attraction in the adidas Super 64 while playing for Dream Vision 17s (Calif.) this week at Rancho.

The 6-foot-7-inch Shepard said he is entertaining scholarship offers from, in no particular order, UNLV, Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Kansas, Louisville and Memphis.

He might find a comfortable fit at Texas, where he could reunite with former Findlay Prep teammates Cory Joseph and Tristan Thompson. Also, his father Winn Shepard and mother Eurica Johnson both played basketball for the Longhorns.

“That would be a big thing for me,” Shepard said of possibly joining Joseph and Thompson. “On top of that, both of my parents played basketball for UT, so there’s a lot of history there.”

UNLV is in his thoughts, too.

“I think UNLV likes me a lot,” he said. “I e-mail back and forth with the coaches, I talk to the coaches. I’m very interested in UNLV.”

Shepard left Houston-area Hightower for Findlay Prep last summer. He was a role player on a talent-rich team last season, averaging 4.5 points and 4.1 rebounds in limited playing time.

But Shepard said the experience of going 32-2 and winning the ESPN RISE National High School Invitational made it worth it.

“Last year was unbelievable for me, coming from a regular public school in Houston to a national championship,” Shepard said. “That was really special.”

He figures to step into more of a leading role next season, and showed flashes of his potential Sunday.

Shepard had 21 points and seven rebounds in a 73-57 victory over Team 94 (Calif.) on Sunday morning. Despite suffering a “tweaked” left ankle in the final minutes, he came back with nine points, five rebounds and four assists in a 65-62 overtime win over 43 Hoops (Minn.) later in the afternoon — in which former Foothill guard Evan Roquemore nailed a buzzer-beating 3-pointer for the win.

Shepard finally slowed down in the third game of the day, being held to three points in a 61-55 loss to Atlanta Celtics J-Smoove that bounced Dream Vision from the tournament in the round of eight.

UNLV coach Lon Kruger took in all three games, though he also was watching Rebels recruiting target Shabazz Muhammad, who will be a junior guard at Bishop Gorman next year.

Muhammad, who also has offers from Duke, North Carolina and many others, scored a combined total of 132 points in his final four games for Dream Vision at the tournament.

“They call themselves ‘peanut butter and jelly,’” Dream Vision coach Clayton Williams said. “They go together. What Shabazz does complements Winston, and what Winston does well complements Shabazz.”

The initial uncertainty over where Findlay Prep’s players would attend classes and play home games hasn’t stopped the program from bringing in top talent for next season.

Texas-committed point guard Myck Kabongo and post prospect Landen Lucas both plan on joining the Pilots. Also, former Sierra Vista star Amir Garrett will be a senior forward at Findlay Prep after playing last season at Leuzinger (Calif.).

Henderson International announced in late February it would no longer operate a high school campus, citing declining enrollment and the troubled economy for the closure. Findlay Prep players had attended classes and played home games at the private school.

Though the program’s educational setting remains in the works, Shepard said he expects it to be worked out and be playing again at the Anthem area campus again in the fall.

“Right now, I don’t really know the details yet, but from what I hear, everything’s going to be fine,” Shepard said. “Findlay Prep’s going to be open.”

Findlay Prep coach Michael Peck could not be reached for comment.

For now, Shepard has dedicated himself to getting better this summer, and he hopes it pays off with more minutes and a repeat NHSI title.

“We’re going to try to repeat again this year,” he said. “The whole summer I’ve been working on my body trying to get stronger.”