Christopher Lakos
Asst. Athletic Director, Sports Comm.
Former Gold Glove-winning shortstop Cam Shepherd has returned to Georgia as the Director of Baseball Operations, Ike Cousins head coach Wes Johnson announced Monday.
A native of Duluth, Ga., Shepherd spent the past two seasons as an assistant coach at Samford on Tony David’s staff. He worked with the infielders, outfielders and assisted with the hitters and recruiting. He arrived at Samford in the fall of 2022 after serving as an assistant coach with the Gainesville Gol’Diggers of the Sunbelt Baseball League, a collegiate summer league based in Georgia and Alabama. Samford went 37-25 in 2023, winning both the Southern Conference regular season title and conference tournament crown to advance to the NCAA Tournament where they went 1-2 at the Auburn Regional. Last season, Samford posted a 36-22 mark, falling in the SoCon Tournament title game.
A four-time SEC Academic Honor Roll selection, Shepherd started and played in 198 games during his Georgia career from 2017-2020. He ended his career with the highest fielding percentage by a Bulldog shortstop at .970 in 834 total chances. Also, he owns the single season school record for fielding by a shortstop with a .987 mark in 2019. That record earned him an ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove. Also, he became the first shortstop in SEC history to go an entire 30-game league schedule without an error. He posted a career batting average of .261 with 45 doubles, five triples. 22 home runs and 119 RBI.
A graduate of Peachtree Ridge High School, Shepherd was a 29th-round selection of the Boston Red Sox in the 2016 MLB Draft. He chose to attend Georgia where he helped the Bulldogs play host to a pair of NCAA Regionals as a national top eight seed. The 2019 Bulldogs went 46-17 including a school record 21 SEC wins.
Shepherd was a 20th-round pick of the Tampa Bay Rays in the 2019 Major League Baseball (MLB) Draft but opted to return to UGA for his final year. Shepherd signed a free agent deal with the Atlanta Braves following the 2020 season that was shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic as the draft featured just five rounds. He played one season with the Augusta GreenJackets before retiring from professional baseball.
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