Duke basketball search for a veteran big man in transfer portal turns close to home
Duke’s search for a veteran big man for next season’s basketball roster includes a player with ACC and Triangle ties.
The Blue Devils have been in contact with Kadin Shedrick, the 6-11, 231-pound center from Holly Springs High School who played at Virginia the past three seasons.
Shedrick entered his name in the transfer portal last month, not long after he scored 15 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and blocked four shots for Virginia in a stunning 68=67 uspset loss to Furman in the NCAA Tournament’s first round. He played 19 minutes, scoring five points with seven rebounds, when Duke beat Virginia, 59-49, in the ACC tournament championship game at Greensboro Coliseum.
As a senior at Holly Springs High School in 2018-19, Shedrick was named the South Wake Athletic Conference (SWAC) player of the year.
After taking a redshirt year in 2019-20, Shedrick played in 76 games over the past three seasons for Virginia. Starting 15 of 30 games this season, he averaged 6.2 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.4 blocked shots per game while making 64.7% of his shots.
Duke freshman center Dereck Lively declared for the NBA Draft on Tuesday. Another Duke freshman from this season’s team, 7-footer Kyle Filipowski, is still gathering information before deciding if he’ll follow Lively to professional basketball or stay for a second season with Duke.
Duke has three 6-8 freshmen forwards entering as part of the nation’s No. 2-ranked class in Sean Stewart, Mackenzie Mgbako and TJ Power. Ryan Young, a 6-10 graduate student who played in all 36 games with nine starts for Duke this season, said he plans to use his final year of eligibility with Duke next season.
The Blue Devils also have 7-1 center Christian Reeves, a deep reserve as a freshman on this season’s 27-9 team that won the ACC championship.
Still, coach Jon Scheyer and his staff are interested in bringing in another veteran big man to give the team more experience in the post. Duke has also been in contact with Oregon transfer Kel’el Ware, a 7-foot freshman center whose playing time diminished as the season progressed.
This story was originally published April 4, 2023 at 4:19 PM.