Shepard, from Fresno, Calif., was one of the top-60 players overall in the ’12 recruiting class and orginally signed with Notre Dame. He was an early enrollee but left school in March 2012, before spring practice even started, reportedly because of an academic issue. He played at Holmes CC (Miss.) in 2013, then signed with Ole Miss in February 2014. But a toe injury caused him to miss the ’14 season, and he played in the first five games of the 2015 season before announcing in October that he was giving up football.
But he obviously has decided to continue, and provided he graduates as scheduled in May, he would be eligible to play this fall for the RedHawks.