The assumption has been that incoming UVA four-star power forward Kadin Shedrick has been pegged for a redshirt year in 2019-2020.
That sure seems to be the case, to hear Virginia coach Tony Bennett talk about Shedrick.
Bennett talked about a “long-range plan” in relation to Shedrick in a recent interview with ESPN’s Paul Biancardi.
“Kadin was a late bloomer. I remember the first time I watched him play. He did not have a good game. I saw his activity and potential. He throws his body around and blocks shots with mobility. He has a soft touch around the basket. As his body fills out, he has big upside on both ends of the floor,” Bennett said.
Shedrick, at 6’11’, 200 pounds coming out of high school, could certainly benefit physically from a redshirt year, akin to the redshirt year that rising redshirt junior Jay Huff had in his first year on Grounds, in which he gained 40 pounds to improve his durability in the post.
Bennett told Biancardi that he has had a conversation with Shedrick’s family, and that “they get it.”
“They were humble about his game and understood the long-range plan. Sometimes with bigger guys that are newer to the game, it’s more of a process,” Bennett said.
Assuming Shedrick were to redshirt, that would still leave Bennett with a frontcourt of Huff, Mamadi Diakite, a 6’9” power forward who returned to UVA for his redshirt senior season after briefly testing the NBA Draft waters this spring, and 7’1” redshirt freshman Francisco Caffaro.
All were four-star prep recruits who redshirted their first-years on Grounds.
Story by Chris Graham
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