Texas to be without Kadin Shedrick in Empire Classic Championship vs. UConn

Happy Feast Week, where great games will be played in college basketball throughout the next few days. Monday has an incredible matchup to kick us off, with Texas facing off against UConn in the Emprise Classic Championship game. Rodney Terry‘s team advanced thanks to a win against Louisville but will be without a key contributor from that game.

Texas center Kadin Shedrick will not play against the Huskies, dealing with a shoulder injury. Holding him out of the game is considered to be precautionary by the school.

“Texas center Kadin Shedrick is out for tonight’s game, per the school,” Jeff Borzello of ESPN said via X. “Had 27 and 7 last night against Louisville.”

Shedrick has been dealing with an injury dating back to offseason surgery. While he feels like the ability to go out there against UConn is there, the Longhorns want to make sure his recovery continues to trend in the correct direction.

Especially this early in the 2023-2024 regular season.

“Kaden Shedrick will not go for Texas, today,” ESPN’s Myron Medcalf said before the game. “Had the labrum surgery this summer on both shoulders, they’re keeping him out for precautionary reasons. I talked to him and he said, ‘listen I feel like I can go.’ But the team is holding him out to make sure they’re cautious about his progress.”

Shedrick has been one of Texas’ best players through four games, being the second-leading scorer (14.3 PPG) and the team’s leading rebounder (4.8 RPG). Only Max Abmas is averaging more points at 14.5 per game. When going up against as good of a team as UConn, the center is going to be a massive loss for the Longhorns.

Kadin Shedrick hoping to make impact in Austin after transferring in

When Texas decided to hire Terry as the full-time head coach, he immediately decided to hit the NCAA transfer portal. Just moments away from winning an Elite Eight game against Miami and making the Final Four, finding outside help was going to be how the success was replicated.

Shedrick was one of the biggest additions of the offseason, coming in via Virginia. The center position was going to be a place where Texas needed help early on, with Dylan Disu still dealing with an injury from the season prior.

Yes, getting a win against UConn would be nice for the resume once the calendar turns to March. Keeping Shedrick healthy over the course of the entire schedule will be more valuable for Texas, though.