Sheppard named as All-Register POY

Nine years ago there was a student in Megan Severtson’s class that loved South Dakota State basketball. She showed up every day dressed in Jackrabbits gear from head to toe and her love for the sport was apparent even as a third grader.
“She came to school every day looking like she could take the court,” Severtson recalled. “She had the little headbands in and everything. Just from the moment I met her, I knew she had a passion for basketball.”
Over the next nine years, Severtson developed a bond with the young girl as she began to play the sport she had a passion for. That girl was Claire Sheppard and her success on the court and her passion for her community are why she’s our choice for the 2023-24 Register Girls Basketball Player of the Year.
“There’s going to be players throughout the year that make an impact on your program for years to come,” Severtson said. “But Claire has really been one that has impacted an entire community.”
Sheppard’s passion for the game of basketball isn’t a surprise. Her father, Brendan, played for the Fliers’ state championship team in 1997, while her mother, Sandy (Wiese) played on the Fliers girls’ team that finished in sixth place the previous fall. Brendan went on to play collegiately at Dakota Wesleyan and became the head coach of the Flandreau boys’ basketball team and Brendan and Sandy’s passion for the sport was passed down to their kids.
While Claire is the oldest, Luke is a sophomore on the Flandreau boys’ team. Her sister Morgan is an eighth grader and her youngest sister Rhegan was a water girl for the Fliers this season as sixth grader. Claire’s lineage leads her to joke that some people believe she was born with a basketball in her hands, but even as she showed up to Severtson’s class decked out in yellow and blue, she didn’t start on the court until her father started a winter team with area girls when Claire was a fourth-grader.
“My dad put together this winter team and just opened it up to girls to start doing workouts,” Sheppard said. “We weren’t playing games yet, but we were just developing our basketball skills.”
Soon after, Sheppard took an even deeper interest in the sport and became a water girl for the Fliers. Flandreau’s water girls attend practice daily, so Sheppard had a front-row seat and a new mentor in Severtson who tried to expand Sheppard’s curiosity toward the game.
“You really try to feed into that passion as much as you can,” Severtson said. “Anytime I saw her, we visited about basketball. When she got the opportunity to be a water girl, it just worked out perfectly. She really started learning about playing basketball from the time she was a fourth grader.”

Sheppard began to craft her game and her biggest quality was her competitiveness. She believes that desire came from playing 3-on-3 with her family as a kid and while she doesn’t play 1-on-1 against her brother anymore due to the intensity of the matchups, the game of basketball has helped keep them together.
“It’s a really cool connection,” Sheppard said. “We like to have fun with it and not take it too seriously. It’s something we all enjoy and I think it’s like a gift that we’re blessed with. It just brings us all together and it’s fun when we can all compete.”
Sheppard’s desire to compete helped her thrive from an early age and she cracked the Fliers’ starting lineup as an eighth grader. Flandreau went on to have one of their most successful stretches in school history with Sheppard in the lineup, qualifying for the state tournament three times in five seasons.
That included last year when Sheppard averaged 14 points, five assists and six rebounds per game but her biggest accomplishment may have been her move to point guard, which helped facilitate for her teammates and make them better.
“She’s such an unselfish player that we worked on getting her to understand that her opportunities to create only come when the ball is in her hand,” Severtson said. “We really tried to force her to be involved in more plays because if you know Claire, you know that her favorite thing to do is pass. She gets more excited about a nice pass than she does a nice shot. Her excitement for others is very genuine.”
While Sheppard had plenty of individual success, the Fliers took off as a team. After reaching the State Tournament in 2023, Flandreau won its first 25 games before losing to Tea Area in the Class A quarterfinals. Although the Fliers didn’t win the state title, they finished the season strong posting the best record in school history at 27-1 and finishing in fifth place for the second straight year.
“Going undefeated was super special until that first round,” Sheppard said. “That loss was really hard, but we ended the year with two wins. Having the best record in Flandreau history was awesome and our team made lots of memories not just in basketball but just hanging out at the State Tournament.”
Sheppard’s career ends as a four-time All-State selection – including first-team selections in 2023 and 2024 – a four-time All-Register team selection and a three-time Register player of the year. She leaves Flandreau as the all-time leading scorer with 1,666 points and ranks fourth with 732 rebounds and second with 302 career assists.
But while Sheppard’s legacy is strong off the court, it’s just as strong in the community of Flandreau. Severtson remembers walking her seven-year-old son to school in the morning and stopping by to see Sheppard in the gym, putting up extra shots before class. With Morgan also cracking the Fliers’ rotation, Sheppard’s mark is felt by the younger players in the community and the embodiment of what it takes to be a Flier.
“She takes the time to interact with a lot of our younger kids,” Severtson said. “They know who Claire is and now they’re trying to be like Claire. I think that’s really cool. She’s done so many little things for our program and when you watch her play, she plays with enthusiasm and it gets those kids excited.”
Sheppard’s next chapter will come for the team she once dressed up for next winter. While she’ll be wearing Jackrabbit blue, she also continues to bleed purple as she continues to represent a community that supported her over the years.
“I would say I’ve been a Flier all my life,” Sheppard said. “The small community and support in Flandreau is unmatched and the pride that I know our whole team had, it sinks so deep. Now that my Flandreau career is over, it’s a really heavy feeling. But I’m also excited about the future and it just makes me that much more grateful and thankful for the whole ride.”
Sheppard also credits Severtson for not only being a big part of her growth but the team as well.
“Coach Severtson has not only been my coach for my entire career at Flandreau, but she’s one of my biggest supporters,” Sheppard said. “She has always had the best interest of all the girls on our team which I know will continue for many years ahead. I am very thankful for her dedication to the program and the whole town of Flandreau. She’s a proud and true Flandreau Flier and a tough competitor, which is something we both share. I’m forever grateful for the many ways she made my career at Flandreau successful.”
It hits home with Severtson, who still remembers that girl who showed up to her class ready to hit the court at Frost Arena nine years ago.
“When I first started coaching, I was hoping that these girls would leave our school and our community and be proud of where they came from,” Severtson said. “I’m incredibly proud of the young woman [Claire] has become. She’s always stayed true to herself and true to her values. It’s everything that you hope your daughter emulates someday and I’ve been blessed over the years to coach a lot of great kids and great basketball players but Claire is definitely toward the top of the list.”