Texas power forward Kadin Shedrick fully cleared, could be available for season opener

The Texas men’s basketball roster got some great news on Wednesday evening, as they heard that one of their biggest transfer portal signees could be available for Monday night’s season opener against Incarnate Word. Kadin Shedrick’s shoulder has gotten better, and he has been medically cleared for all basketball activities, according to a school spokesperson.

Shedrick, a native of Holly Springs, North Carolina, chose the Longhorns over Duke, Missouri, Kansas State, and Xavier this offseason.

He started to emerge in the final few games of the 2022-2023 season for the Cavaliers, following a season-ending injury to Ben Vander Plas. The North Carolina native blocked five shots against the North Carolina Tar Heels in UVA’s 68-59 win in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals in Greensboro, North Carolina. In Virginia’s loss to Furman in the first round of the 2023 NCAA Tournament, Shedrick was dominant, pouring in 15 points, grabbing 13 rebounds, and blocking four shots.

He was one of the more highly coveted big men in the transfer portal this offseason. Last year, he averaged 6.2 points per game and 3.8 rebounds per game for Tony Bennett and the Virginia Cavaliers. One of the better defenders in the ACC, he also averaged 1.4 blocks per game last season.

Rodney Terry recently updated the status of Shedrick

Shedrick had been limited in practice in the offseason. But last Tuesday, Texas head coach Rodney Terry provided an update on his status.

“Kadin Shedrick has made a lot of progress over the last four weeks. He is in contact in the half court, not as much in the full court right now. And he seems to be responding really well to that right now,” Terry said during last Tuesday’s press conference.

From the Longhorns headman’s perspective, things were going well for Shedrick during his rehab. So, when does he see Shedrick returning to action, and how is this other senior forward, Dylan Disu, progressing with his rehab?

“I still don’t have a timetable for when he’s going to be cleared; hopefully, sooner than later. I know he’s worked really hard to put himself back in a pretty good position to have an opportunity a little earlier in the season than Disu. So, we’ll kind of keep it open-ended that way. But he’s made a lot of strides; a lot of positive things are happening for him right now,” Terry said.

On3’s Justin Rudolph also contributed to this article.