New Kentucky HC Mark Pope appealing to a higher power to try to keep Reed Sheppard

New Kentucky head coach Mark Pope knows that he has big shoes to fill in Lexington. Sure, the John Calipari era didn't end on a good note, but Coach Cal did bring a championship to Kentucky.

That's the expectation for the Wildcats, and as he enters year one, Pope is hoping that he'll have one of last year's best players to help him try to reach those expectations quickly.

Super freshman Reed Sheppard is still not sure if he'll enter the NBA Draft as a certain lottery pick or come back to Kentucky. That's a decision that Pope talked about in his first radio show appearance as Kentucky head coach.

“Yeah, so, listen. Reed is in that elite air status where he’s a lottery pick. 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 said, per On3.

“So, Reed, the way he’s going to be successful in his future is if he really searches inside himself and finds out where his heart is pulling him,” said Pope. “In all honestly, Jeff, Stacey, and Reed are very spiritual people and where God is calling him. That’s just the truth.”

Pope was talking about the Sheppard family's faith, but he also revealed that while talking with Reed's father, Jeff, he reached out to a higher power of his own.

“I told (Jeff) I’m spending a lot of time praying that God will call him back to Kentucky,” Pope joked.