On the Texas men’s basketball team, graduate forward Kadin Shedrick claims he’s the best at swinging a bat.
“I have no way to prove it,” Shedrick said. “At UVA, we used to play a softball game every day before the first day of school. We don’t really do that here, but I think I’d be the best baseball player.”
Shedrick played baseball as his primary sport until he was 15 years old. Then, in the summer between his freshman and sophomore year of high school, Shedrick shot up from 6’2 to 6’8 and started to make basketball more of a priority.
Now, as one of the oldest guys on the team, the 6’11 forward is stepping up to the plate by leading the basketball team on and off the court.
“Last year, all I was doing was sitting over on the side, watching the guys, being supportive and soaking everything in,” Shedrick said. “But this year, I’ve been involved in every rep, every practice.”
After transferring from the University of Virginia after the 2022-23 season, Shedrick played a key role on the Texas lineup, leading Texas in blocks at 35 and ranking fifth in scoring.
But Shedrick battled injury throughout the season. From shoulder surgery to lower back injuries, Shedrick couldn’t spend as much time as he wanted on the court.
With one year of eligibility left, Shedrick took advantage of the opportunity to return.
“I wanted to come back and have one more healthy year,” Shedrick said. “I wanted to win more basketball games. I wanted to try and get out of the first week in March Madness.”
The past three times Shedrick has played in the March Madness tournament, his team has been eliminated in the first weekend.
“I haven’t done that before,” Shedrick said. “And I want the opportunity to advance further and take on a leadership role with the team.”
Having a desire to lead goes a long way on head coach Rodney Terry’s team. Terry doesn’t appoint people to leadership positions, but rather has people step up as leaders by themselves.
“(Shedrick’s) been here. He’s been in winning programs. He understands what’s that about,” Terry said. “We’ll lean on those older guys.”
While Shedrick naturally finds himself in a leadership role with his experience playing collegiate basketball, he has a vision for the type of leader he wants to be.
“I don’t want to be an authoritative leader. I want to be a team that everybody leads in their own way,” Shedrick said. “I never want to call a guy out, so I’ll pull a guy to the side if I need to. We haven’t really had those problems yet, but I’m willing to.”
