Kadin Shedrick Plays "Good, Tough Basketball" at End of Frustrating Season

After seeing his playing time dwindle in the regular season, Kadin Shedrick played exceptionally in postseason play

Matt Pendleton-USA TODAY Sports

This has undoubtedly been a frustrating season for Kadin Shedrick. 

The redshirt junior center started in 14 of Virginia's first 15 games, but then saw his playing time decline drastically as the Cavaliers shifted to primarily small-ball lineups with Ben Vander Plas at the center position. Shedrick played five or fewer minutes in three-straight games in the middle of January, beginning a trend of insignificant playing time that would last through the end of the regular season. With the exception of UVA's win over NC State on February 7th, a game in which Shedrick recorded 10 points and six rebounds in 27 minutes, he played only sparingly for the remainder of the regular season slate. 

Shedrick made at least brief appearances in most of Virginia's games, indicating that his decline in playing time wasn't due to injury. His questionable status in Virginia's rotations became even more suspect when Shedrick did not play at all in either of UVA's final two games of the regular season, not even getting into the Louisville game when the Cavaliers emptied their bench at the end of a comfortable win in the season finale. 

Whatever the cause was for Shedrick's drastic decline in playing opportunities, he deserves all the credit in the world for being ready when Virginia needed him most. 

The day before UVA was set to begin play at the ACC Men's Basketball Tournament in Greensboro, Ben Vander Plas saw his collegiate career come to a sudden end as he suffered a fluky injury in practice, fracturing his right hand. Without the services of Vander Plas, who played a key role on both ends of the floor for the Cavaliers despite enduring a shooting slump late in the season, the UVA coaching staff was forced to lean on its traditional centers more heavily than before. Virginia went with the 7'1" Argentinian Francisco Caffaro as the starting center for the ACC Tournament, but it was Kadin Shedrick who delivered incredibly impactful performances off the bench. UVA made a run to the ACC Championship Game before ultimately falling to Duke and Shedrick was a key factor in the Cavaliers getting that far. 

In the quarterfinals against North Carolina, Shedrick made two of his three field goals and scored four points, but it was his presence on the defensive end that provided a massive lift for Virginia. Shedrick recorded a staggering five blocks in the game, reprising his role as an elite rim protector, and he and Caffaro both played effective on-ball defense in the post against Armando Bacot. 

Shedrick kept the momentum going the next night against Clemson in the ACC semifinals with eight points on 3/5 shooting to go along with seven rebounds, one steal, and one block. He ended up fouling out late in the game, but received a much-deserved standing ovation from the UVA fans in attendance as he exited the floor. In the ACC Championship Game, Shedrick had another respectable performance, recording five points, seven rebounds, and a block in 19 minutes of action off the bench. 

Shedrick's resurgence at the ACC Tournament was rewarded the following week in the NCAA Tournament as Shedrick returned to the starting lineup for Virginia's first round game against Furman on Thursday. In his first start since January 10th, no Cavalier had a better game than Kadin Shedrick in Virginia's disappointing 68-67 upset loss to the Paladins. In 29 minutes, Shedrick recorded his first double-double in over a year with 15 points and 13 rebounds, including five offensive rebounds, four blocks and a steal. He was also 5/6 from the free throw line and was a combined 10/12 (83.3%) from the free throw line over the four-game postseason stretch. Beyond the box score, Shedrick made several hustle plays, diving for loose balls and fighting off multiple opposing players for rebounds.

"I thought he played terrific," UVA head coach Tony Bennett said of Kadin Shedrick after the loss to Furman. "He gave us some good rim protection... I thought Kadin really responded, you know, stuck his free throws and played good tough basketball, so I was happy for him and proud of him."

Shedrick has been in the UVA basketball program for four years, but since he redshirted his first year and has the extra COVID-19 season, he still has two years of eligibility remaining. After seeing his playing time dwindle and eventually disappear at the end of the regular season, it would have come as no surprise if Shedrick ended up bolting for the transfer portal this offseason. But if he truly turned a corner in the last couple of weeks with his remarkable performance in postseason play and can carry that momentum into a strong offseason of development, Virginia could finally see the long-awaited Kadin Shedrick breakout season in 2023-2024. Only time will tell. 

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