Rodney Terry considers how injuries have impacted Kadin Shedrick

The Texas Longhorns suffered their second straight loss on Monday amid their gauntlet of a conference schedule where they face six-straight ranked opponents, falling to No. 4 ranked Houston at home in overtime 76-72.

Texas forward Kadin Shedrick made a minor impact off of the bench on Monday with four points, four rebounds, two assists, and a block for the Longhorns in his 15 minutes. But after the game, head coach Rodney Terry was asked if a back injured suffered earlier this month by Shedrick has effected his play at all as of late.

“I think he’s gotten better over the last give or take week and a half, two weeks,” Terry said. “He’s gotten better and he’s playing with a mindset to where he’s not really worrying about it. Just trying to go out there and compete and still have some physicality and do things.”

Shedrick joined the Longhorns this offseason through the transfer portal after spending the first four seasons of his career at Virginia. He was the No. 43 ranked player in the transfer portal according to On3’s College Basketball Transfer Portal Top Players Rankings, expected to help the Longhorns on the glass and above the rim as a 6-foot-11 forward. But statistically, it’s clear he has not been the same player since injuring his back in early January.

Shedrick suffered a back injury on January 6 when the Longhorns faced Texas Tech, which forced him to miss the team’s next matchup against Cincinnati. He returned in their following game West Virginia, but came off of the bench after making 11 consecutive starts for the Longhorns.

Since that game, Shedrick has appeared exclusively off of the bench for Texas in their last six games. Playing in significantly fewer minutes for the team with his production taking a hit as well. But Terry still insists that his back injury is trending in the right direction.

“So again, I think he’s getting better and I think our training staff’s done a good job mending him and keeping him in a positive direction moving forward,” Terry said.

Shedrick is averaging a career-high 8.6 points per game this season for Texas, but has only surpassed that point total once in his last seven games following his injury after scoring in double-figures eight times in his first 12 games with the Longhorns.

It will be interesting to see if Shedrick returns to form and back into the Texas starting lineup again this season, especially considering that the Longhorns are currently the 12 seed in the Big 12 standings with a 3-5 record in conference play, in a desperate need of a spark.