Spokane, Washington is over 2,300 miles from Baton Rouge, but for Mjracle Sheppard, that’s almost a trip home.
Now that LSU is in the Sweet 16, Sheppard is able to make that trip with her LSU team, and will have lots of family in attendance.
“I’m just so excited, I can’t even think of the words,” Sheppard said.
Sheppard grew up in Kent, Washington, which is about 25 minutes from Seattle, and five hours from Spokane.
It’s not often that she’s able to make it back home, especially during the basketball season, and it’s been that way since high school.
Sheppard attended Montverde Academy in Montverde, Florida, a boys’ and girls’ basketball powerhouse at the high school level. As it has for many players, Montverde had a hand in developing Sheppard into a four-star recruit and the No. 86-ranked recruit in the 2023 class.
When she was already far away, she decided to stay far from home and continue her career at the collegiate level at Mississippi State.
Sheppard’s freshman season was productive, where she averaged five points per game along with 1.4 steals per game. Her defense was what allowed her to stand out early on in her college career, and LSU took notice while she was in Starkville.
In a 77-73 win over LSU, Sheppard helped her Mississippi State team pull off the upset with six steals along with 12 points, four rebounds and five assists. Her six-steal performance was one of four performances she had with five steals or more her freshman season.
“Defense sets the tone of the game,” Sheppard said. “Defense wins championships.”
Mississippi State, however, missed the NCAA Tournament and instead played in the Women’s Basketball Invitational Tournament, where the Bulldogs fell in the quarterfinals to Penn State.
Sheppard watched March Madness from afar. Similar to this season, Spokane was a host of the first two rounds of the tournament, as Gonzaga hosted the first two rounds being a No. 4 seed.
Her all-around performance against the Tigers proved to be ironic this offseason.
After she entered the transfer portal, Sheppard ended up choosing LSU, and was a part of a transfer haul along with Shayeann Day-Wilson from Miami, Kailyn Gilbert from Arizona and Jersey Wolfenbarger from Arkansas.
Like she was at Mississippi State, Sheppard was reliable on defense from the start. She began her career at LSU with a 10 point, seven rebound and seven steal performance against North Carolina Central.
“Mjracle brings a lot of energy,” Mulkey said. “She’s just active. She plays really really hard.”
While she’s always been a defensive asset for the Tigers, her time in Baton Rouge has also allowed her to reach into her offensive game more, especially recently.
In LSU’s 88-85 loss in overtime to Alabama, Sheppard was a spark plug that brought LSU back within striking distance in the second half. She totaled 10 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals against the Crimson Tide.
In another time of adversity against Ole Miss, in which LSU lost 85-77, Sheppard had a hand in keeping LSU in it once again. She finished with eight points, five rebounds, two assists and four steals.
“She just does good things defensively,” Mulkey said. “She’s very solid and sound.”
After the SEC Tournament, where Sheppard combined for 20 points, seven rebounds and five steals in two games, it was time for LSU to find out where it would be in this year’s NCAA Tournament bracket.
And the Tigers landed exactly where Sheppard wanted them to: Spokane.
“I was like, ‘yes, yes finally,’” Sheppard said. “I was watching last year and they had a Spokane regional, and I was like, ‘please.’”
Sheppard’s played basketball far from home for quite some time, and now having played in three different states in the South, she’s learned a lot not only basketball wise, but things about life as well.
“I definitely feel like the people are more friendly down South,” Sheppard said. “It’s a much more physical game out here, and I love that. I wanted to be a part of that.”
Basketball has played a major factor in keeping Sheppard in the South, and she’s made the sacrifice of being far from home and far from family for years.
While being far away from home, however, Sheppard has had to find the aspect of family within her teams, and she found that in Baton Rouge.
“Family means everything,” Sheppard said. “Somebody being there, people being there for you, supporting you, and I truly believe we have a family here.”
Sheppard’s journey of making the sacrifice of being far from home has now come full circle, as the Tigers are set to make the trip to Washington for the Sweet 16.
Her newfound family will now be in her home state with her own family, which hasn’t been in Baton Rouge since the team’s “Family Day.”
Despite her hometown still being five hours from Spokane, much of her family plans to make the trip to see her and the Tigers in the Sweet 16.
Nonetheless, Sheppard’s career has been a journey, and it will likely continue to be.
Just as she’s ended up in places she may not have expected, that concept displayed itself once again, even if that place she didn’t expect to play in is her home state.
“It was very hard to believe,” Sheppard said. “It’s been a journey.”
