Graduate forward Kadin Shedrick slowly sank into the press conference chair, wincing as he clutched his back. As head coach Rodney Terry made his opening remarks, Shedrick took some deep breaths to push past the pain and get comfortable.
Shedrick is familiar with pain. In his six seasons of collegiate basketball, he has dealt with lower back injuries and recovered from surgery on both of his shoulders.
So when the injuries began to take a toll on Shedrick as Texas took on Arkansas, he didn’t want to sit out.
“I thought it was a winnable game and I wasn’t going to just sit out,” Shedrick said. “The drugs started kicking in pretty good, and I felt like I could at least try and help win the game. Worst case scenario, I’m just not able to go and I just come right back out.”
The forward battled back spasms throughout the entire game. Although the Longhorns were unsuccessful, falling 78–70 to the Razorbacks, Shedrick’s willingness to work through the pain inspired his teammates.
“It means a lot that our captain out there is willing to give up his body and sacrifice (for) us for the win,” freshman guard Tre Johnson said. “We should be trying to do the same thing, and we (are) not as hurt as he is. So we should be out there playing even harder.”
Shedrick went off the court in the first half of the game to get treated for his pain. But when the Longhorns came back after halftime and were unable to close the Razorbacks’ lead, Shedrick made his way back onto the court.
He played a huge role in the Texas comeback, adding 10 points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots in 19 minutes. On a roll lately, Shedrick also recorded a double-double with a texas-smashes-lsu-out-of-halftime-in-89-58-road-win/” title=”Texas smashes LSU out of halftime in 89-58 road win”>season-high 16 points and 10 rebounds against LSU.
“He’s a connector,” Arkansas head coach John Calipari said. “And I grabbed him after and just told him, ‘I hope you’re alright.’ He said, ‘I’m good.’ But he’s that guy that does all that dirty work, that makes the right play.”
Shedrick isn’t just a connector on the court. He also appears to be the glue of the team, standing up for his teammates when they need him. When Johnson was asked about his turnover at the end of the game, Shedrick immediately came to his defense.
“I just think it’s important to note that one turnover when we were down five isn’t why we lost the game,” Shedrick said. “It’s not Tre’s fault at all.”
As the players left the room, Johnson patted Shedrick on the chest for the comment.
As a connector and team captain, Shedrick will be needed on and off the court this weekend as the team travels to Nashville to play Vanderbilt. And thankfully for the team, Texas has the facilities to help Shedrick prepare.
“I have a great support staff in Warren Young and Darby Rich and they’re going to do a lot to help me get prepared for Saturday,” Shedrick said. “It’s going to be a couple of long treatment days. I’m committed to doing whatever I have to do to make sure I feel as good as possible for Saturday.”
