Duke basketball showing interest in Virginia transfer
Duke basketball freshman center Dereck Lively II announced on Tuesday afternoon that he is taking his talents to the next level by declaring for the NBA Draft; he's a projected first-round pick by most. A few minutes later, CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein tweeted that Virginia transfer Kadin Shedrick is now hearing from the Blue Devils.
Shedrick, a redshirt junior with two years of eligibility remaining, hails from Holly Springs, N.C., just a 30-minute drive to Durham. He was a four-star recruit and arrived in Charlottesville at No. 68 overall on the 247Sports 2019 Composite.
Last season at Virginia, the solid rim-protector and capable finisher drew a starting nod in 15 of the 30 games he played for a Cavaliers squad that finished 25-8 overall and in a tie with Miami atop the ACC standings.
The 6-foot-11, 230-pound nimble big man averaged 6.2 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks in only 17.5 minutes per game, shooting 64.7 percent from the field and 79.4 percent from the charity stripe.
Those stats are notably similar to those of Lively last season. So perhaps the Duke basketball staff is eyeing Kadin Shedrick — among a few others — as a potential replacement down low for the relatively stacked 2023-24 Blue Devils.
And it is worth pointing out that one of Shedrick's best performances as a collegian came in Cameron Indoor Stadium. That was in Virginia's 69-68 last-second win over Duke during the 2021-22 season. In that contest, he tallied 16 points on an 8-for-8 clip from the field, adding six rebounds across his 24 minutes off the bench.
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