Belmont’s Ben Sheppard Selected By Indiana Pacers In First Round Of NBA Draft

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Ben Sheppard vs Drake University. Photo: Courtesy of Belmont Athletics

Belmont University men’s basketball star Ben Sheppard was selected by the Indiana Pacers with the No. 26 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft Thursday from Barclays Center.

Sheppard joins Joe Gaines (1972, Portland Trail Blazers) and Dylan Windler (2019, Cleveland Cavaliers) as the third Belmont men’s basketball player selected in the NBA Draft.

Sheppard led Belmont to 98 victories and three conference championships during his decorated career, impressing NBA organizations throughout the pre-draft process.

Beyond individual workouts, Sheppard wowed scouts at the 2023 NBA Combine in Chicago, posting the fastest shuttle-run time and scoring a game-high 25 points in his final scrimmage.

The guard stood among select company in college basketball as players with at least 1,500 points, 450 rebounds, 200 assists and 100 steals.

Sheppard averaged 18.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game this past season as Belmont won 20 or more games for a 13th consecutive season.

A finalist for the Lou Henson National Player of the Year award this past season, Sheppard posted 29 double figure scoring games, including 12 games with 20 or more points.

Sheppard was one of only four players in college basketball this past season with at least 600 points, 150 rebounds, 75 assists, 75 3-point field goals while shooting at least 40 percent from 3-point distance (Brandin Podziemski, Souley Boum, Landers Nolley).

The first player in the conference named Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week three times this season, Sheppard was the only player this season named All-MVC First Team and MVC All-Defensive Team.

Among his notable performances, Sheppard scored a career-high 41 points at Tennessee Tech, a conference season-high 35 points at Murray State Feb. 1 and 33 points vs. Middle Tennessee Dec. 10.

The Atlanta native adds to Belmont’s growing NBA ledger, which includes 2017 NBA Champion and six-year veteran Ian Clark, Windler, Utah Jazz assistant coach Evan Bradds and leading NBA skills development coach Drew Hanlen.

Sheppard becomes the 275th men’s basketball player in the history of the Missouri Valley Conference selected in the NBA Draft, joining the likes of Larry Bird, Walt Frazier, Doug Collins, Hersey Hawkins, Kyle Korver, Doug McDermott and Landry Shamet.

Steven Boero
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