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14 CAVALIER CORNER and helping develop student-athletes into better players and men under his five-pillar system. Shedrick said he appreciates Ben- nett's approach. "Sometimes teams have negative rela- tionships with their coach, but it's great to have a really positive relationship with our coach," he said. "We know he has our back, and it feels good." On the court, Bennett and his staff excel at helping players develop strength along with skills. This was especially important for someone like Shedrick, who had an abrupt growth spurt. "Coming out of high school, I knew I was going to play college basketball," he said. "But I was scrawny, and I needed to go somewhere where I could develop and not have to play immediately." Shedrick looked at previous big men who played for the Cavaliers and the progress they had made while working with strength and conditioning coach Mike Curtis. He came to believe that Virginia was a place where he could make the physical improve- ments he knew he needed to make. "They develop their players really well," Shedrick said. "You see De'Andre Hunter, Mamadi Diakite, Jay Huff and players like that. That was really appealing to me." Virginia also provided Shedrick with the opportunity to redshirt and take time to improve his skill and strength while playing against future NBA players. Shedrick relished the opportunity to start his college career learning to play against previous Virginia stars like Diakite and Huff. "I was a first-year playing with Mamadi. I would just have to guard him every day in practice, but I think that helped me get bet- ter," Shedrick said. "Jay is a completely dif- ferent type of player. It was really good to be able to practice against both every day." Two years later, Shedrick has played in every game for Virginia this season. One of his best performances was when UVA beat Duke Feb. 7 in Durham, N.C. In fact, he calls that game his favorite memory on the court during his time in a Virginia uniform. "I had a solid game, so that made it feel even better," he said. "Even if I didn't play well, that would still have been really cool." Shedrick scored a then-career-high 16 points and pulled down six rebounds in the 69-68 victory. The triumph marked only the second time a Bennett-led team had taken down the Blue Devils in Cameron Indoor Stadium. As a North Carolina native, Shedrick grew up surrounded by blue blood col- lege basketball programs, Duke included. Much of the sports culture in the state is wrapped around basketball and getting to play against teams he grew up watching has been a special experience. "That was my first time in Cameron with any fans," Shedrick said. "I grew up in Ra- leigh. I never went to a Duke game, since ticket prices are kind of insane. Playing in the environment was really cool. "Obviously growing up, I'd been to NC State games at PNC. I've been to a couple of UNC games, but playing at Duke was definitely special." A starter for much of the season, Shed- rick continues to develop his skills on and off the court. He is part of one of the most challenging and competitive programs at the University of Virginia — the McIntire School of Commerce. He is the only player on the team to be in McIntire and is study- ing information technology and marketing. "Coming into college, I didn't have any idea what I wanted to do. It was cool to get in," he said. "I didn't really understand how big of a deal it was. But everyone made a big deal out of it, and my parents were ex- cited about it." Just being a college student is a lot to manage, and building time for practice ev- ery day and traveling constantly during the spring semester only add to that challenge. Shedrick had to learn how to balance his commitments and manage his time. "Balancing it is hard at times," he said. "We just finished a big project that I was