Texas had media availability this week heading into their matchup against NC state this Wednesday, December 4th. Kadin Shedrick answered some questions and these were the biggest takeaways from the questionnaire:
Q: Playing in these environments are the expectations, "hey we've all been around the block we've all played in big time games do you expect to step in? Or is there still a natural learning process that we're 7-8 games into the year and we have to learn now what it looks like on this stage?
A: like you said we have a lot of veteran guys you know I personally expect us to know how to handle those environments, especially when you know the crowd is all against you. I think the biggest thing for us that we can learn in terms of those kind of environments is how to lean on each other during those times. It's going to be a lot of our first time playing together in a road game, So, you know, kind of just, knowing how everybody responds to situations like that would probably be the biggest thing we can take away from that.
Q: I know that you went to Holly Springs high school and wanted to see if you ever attended games there? And how many family members is probably going to be in an attendance tomorrow and what are your feelings of playing at home in that arena?
A: I attended quite a few NC State games back when I was getting recruited in high school I was on two Virginia teams that played at NC State, But, you know, I'm really excited for the opportunity to come back home and, play in the arena. Once I left the ACC, I wasn't really expecting to have another opportunity to be able to do that, so I'm really grateful for that, to be able to play in front of all my friends and family one more time, and I think I have around 25 or so friends and family that I'm giving tickets to there's a a bunch more that bought their own tickets. So I don't know the exact number, but there will be a lot of people there
Q: it sounded like NC State recruited you, did Carolina or wake recruit you and what kind of made you, go out of state and get away from Raleigh?
A: Out of high school, NC State recruited me, Wake Forest recruited me. But at the end of the day, you know, I knew the type player I wasn't high school, I didn't really expect that I was gonna be able to be ready to play right out high school so for me, I had kind of a unique way of looking at it. I was looking for programs that, you know, have a history of red shirts, had a history of door really well with red shirts and you know, Virginia has a bunch of amazing guys that they red shirted and you know, so I kind of went to Virginia because they they seem to do a very good job with it. And um, so that's kind of how I end up at Virginia.
Q: When you decided to go into the portal, had you looked into maybe going home again, whether it be an NC State wake forest somewhere in the research triangle? how much did the you know the pull of home maybe go into your portal decision?
A: going home was never at the top of my list. You know, I felt I was close enough at home at my time at Virginia 3 and a half hours where my friends and family could come up any time they wanted, so it was never like, oh, I have to go home for me. For me I wanted to find the the best situation for me, and so that's how I kind of end up at Texas. I also wanted to get out of the ACC, so that really marked off a bunch of teams around my home being from Raleigh, so uh so yeah, that's that's kind of why didn't uh stay in North Carolina.
Q: I'm curious, what are your expectations of yourself? What are you trying to accompplish this season at Texas? And what expectations has Coach Terry put on you now that you're healthy and crashing the boards?
A: for myself, you know, I expect bring whatever I have to bring to the table for us to win games, you know, I've been to NCAA tournament, three times now, and I haven't made out the first weekend, so you know, that's part of the reason why, you know, I was really excited to come back was to have the opportunity to try and make it out out of the first weekend so doing whatever I can to help the team with that, and then, you know, RT, you know, they expect me to be a leader is a kind of role that I never I've never had in my basketball career, so I'm trying to, take that on, uh, and lead my teammates into the right direction. Now I've been around the block quite a few times. And then on the core, you know, they expect me to be a rim protector, a really good defender and all that, and then, uh they want me to be a uh offensive factor in terms of being a low post presence, being able to space the floor, when the time presents itself and just things of that nature.
Q: when you enter the portal, you were kind of itching to leave the ACC, was that there anything specific you know that maybe you didn't love about it? And what kind of attracted you to looking at somebody's other leagues?
A: There was no reason for me to want to leave the ACC other than I don’t really believe in transferring within the same conference. I wasn't too interested in going and playing against Virginia. I had no beef with Virginia. I didn't have anything I wanted to prove to them. You know, I love my boys back there and I just wasn't really something that I was really high on my priority list when I was transferring. And after a few years in the ACC I kinda wanted to see some fresh faces, some fresh different style of plays, some different teams, some different locations, things like that. So that's that's what led me to looking at other conferences, the SEC, the big 12 those conferences um at the end of the day.
Q: I know it's early, but what are some of the things that you've noticed about this teams this year's team compared to last year's?
A: you know I don’t really like comparing teams because I think that we had like a lot of great things going on last year maybe it didn't end quite how we wanted to you know losing in the second round but I'd say one thing that I've known is really big about this team is that all the guys just love each other, everybody in the lock room loves each other, they love hanging out with each other we love doing all sorts of things around Austin and I think that that's really important.
Q: you came to a team where a lot of guys are now gone, how easy or difficult is it to get caught up in the pressure of oh well these guys are transferring and these guys are going pro and yet you got to focus on your own journey?
A: In the off season there were a lot of question marks for sure of guys transferring guys that had graduated guys going to NBA and all that. So, um at the end of the day I know that I can only control the controllable and the only things I can control are getting healthy, getting on the court getting workouts in and, you know, if I'm at my best and the team that would have down the line would be better so for me, it was just trying to focus on myself and, you know, trying to really continue to develop my game and I trusted the coaches to bring in a good group of guys and that's what we have now.
*Texas faces off against NC State Wednesday December 4th, at 8:15 on ESPN 2, NC State is fresh off making a Final Four appearance last season and have started the season 5-2*
Q: Playing in these environments are the expectations, "hey we've all been around the block we've all played in big time games do you expect to step in? Or is there still a natural learning process that we're 7-8 games into the year and we have to learn now what it looks like on this stage?
A: like you said we have a lot of veteran guys you know I personally expect us to know how to handle those environments, especially when you know the crowd is all against you. I think the biggest thing for us that we can learn in terms of those kind of environments is how to lean on each other during those times. It's going to be a lot of our first time playing together in a road game, So, you know, kind of just, knowing how everybody responds to situations like that would probably be the biggest thing we can take away from that.
Q: I know that you went to Holly Springs high school and wanted to see if you ever attended games there? And how many family members is probably going to be in an attendance tomorrow and what are your feelings of playing at home in that arena?
A: I attended quite a few NC State games back when I was getting recruited in high school I was on two Virginia teams that played at NC State, But, you know, I'm really excited for the opportunity to come back home and, play in the arena. Once I left the ACC, I wasn't really expecting to have another opportunity to be able to do that, so I'm really grateful for that, to be able to play in front of all my friends and family one more time, and I think I have around 25 or so friends and family that I'm giving tickets to there's a a bunch more that bought their own tickets. So I don't know the exact number, but there will be a lot of people there
Q: it sounded like NC State recruited you, did Carolina or wake recruit you and what kind of made you, go out of state and get away from Raleigh?
A: Out of high school, NC State recruited me, Wake Forest recruited me. But at the end of the day, you know, I knew the type player I wasn't high school, I didn't really expect that I was gonna be able to be ready to play right out high school so for me, I had kind of a unique way of looking at it. I was looking for programs that, you know, have a history of red shirts, had a history of door really well with red shirts and you know, Virginia has a bunch of amazing guys that they red shirted and you know, so I kind of went to Virginia because they they seem to do a very good job with it. And um, so that's kind of how I end up at Virginia.
Q: When you decided to go into the portal, had you looked into maybe going home again, whether it be an NC State wake forest somewhere in the research triangle? how much did the you know the pull of home maybe go into your portal decision?
A: going home was never at the top of my list. You know, I felt I was close enough at home at my time at Virginia 3 and a half hours where my friends and family could come up any time they wanted, so it was never like, oh, I have to go home for me. For me I wanted to find the the best situation for me, and so that's how I kind of end up at Texas. I also wanted to get out of the ACC, so that really marked off a bunch of teams around my home being from Raleigh, so uh so yeah, that's that's kind of why didn't uh stay in North Carolina.
Q: I'm curious, what are your expectations of yourself? What are you trying to accompplish this season at Texas? And what expectations has Coach Terry put on you now that you're healthy and crashing the boards?
A: for myself, you know, I expect bring whatever I have to bring to the table for us to win games, you know, I've been to NCAA tournament, three times now, and I haven't made out the first weekend, so you know, that's part of the reason why, you know, I was really excited to come back was to have the opportunity to try and make it out out of the first weekend so doing whatever I can to help the team with that, and then, you know, RT, you know, they expect me to be a leader is a kind of role that I never I've never had in my basketball career, so I'm trying to, take that on, uh, and lead my teammates into the right direction. Now I've been around the block quite a few times. And then on the core, you know, they expect me to be a rim protector, a really good defender and all that, and then, uh they want me to be a uh offensive factor in terms of being a low post presence, being able to space the floor, when the time presents itself and just things of that nature.
Q: when you enter the portal, you were kind of itching to leave the ACC, was that there anything specific you know that maybe you didn't love about it? And what kind of attracted you to looking at somebody's other leagues?
A: There was no reason for me to want to leave the ACC other than I don’t really believe in transferring within the same conference. I wasn't too interested in going and playing against Virginia. I had no beef with Virginia. I didn't have anything I wanted to prove to them. You know, I love my boys back there and I just wasn't really something that I was really high on my priority list when I was transferring. And after a few years in the ACC I kinda wanted to see some fresh faces, some fresh different style of plays, some different teams, some different locations, things like that. So that's that's what led me to looking at other conferences, the SEC, the big 12 those conferences um at the end of the day.
Q: I know it's early, but what are some of the things that you've noticed about this teams this year's team compared to last year's?
A: you know I don’t really like comparing teams because I think that we had like a lot of great things going on last year maybe it didn't end quite how we wanted to you know losing in the second round but I'd say one thing that I've known is really big about this team is that all the guys just love each other, everybody in the lock room loves each other, they love hanging out with each other we love doing all sorts of things around Austin and I think that that's really important.
Q: you came to a team where a lot of guys are now gone, how easy or difficult is it to get caught up in the pressure of oh well these guys are transferring and these guys are going pro and yet you got to focus on your own journey?
A: In the off season there were a lot of question marks for sure of guys transferring guys that had graduated guys going to NBA and all that. So, um at the end of the day I know that I can only control the controllable and the only things I can control are getting healthy, getting on the court getting workouts in and, you know, if I'm at my best and the team that would have down the line would be better so for me, it was just trying to focus on myself and, you know, trying to really continue to develop my game and I trusted the coaches to bring in a good group of guys and that's what we have now.
*Texas faces off against NC State Wednesday December 4th, at 8:15 on ESPN 2, NC State is fresh off making a Final Four appearance last season and have started the season 5-2*
