Andy Shadid Leads On and Off the Field

Bradley Baseball junior outfielder Andy Shadid is on pace to graduate in May after representing the Braves at the 2017 NCAA Student-Athlete Leadership Forum

Bradley University Marketing

Mackenzie Parker, Athletics Communications Intern Baseball 12/8/2017 11:00:00 AM

It's not so often a student-athlete graduates from college with a year of eligibility left. Such a thing happens about as often as a program sees a person like Andy Shadid come around.

Shadid, a third-year outfielder for the Bradley baseball program, has one more year of eligibility left after this season. However, he plans to graduate this May. Now an upperclassman and a starter in all but one game in his two seasons at Bradley, Shadid recently attended the NCAA Student-Athlete Leadership Forum in Washington D.C., an event attended by only 350 student-athletes from schools at the Divisions I, II and III levels across the nation. Furthermore, Shadid is the first Bradley student-athlete ever selected to attend the forum.

The Leadership Forum is an annual event that instructs student-athletes, coaches and administrators on important leadership skills and allows them to explore the idea of leadership both in concept and in practice. Student-athletes are chosen for the forum based on their influence on their respective campuses and communities and their diversity of experiences. They are selected by conference offices and accompanied by an administrator from the office to represent their conference at the forum.

In September, Shadid was nominated by Pam Miller, coordinator of academics and student-athlete services, to be the Missouri Valley Conference representative at the forum.

"Andy really stood out when it came to leadership qualities, especially in the areas of academics, athletics and community service. It was very easy to write the letter of recommendation for him as I highlighted all the different leadership accomplishments and achievements," said Miller.

Following Miller's recommendation, Jimmy Heisner, director of compliance for the MVC, contacted Shadid to inform him of his selection.

"You don't really realize how big of an opportunity and how special it is until you get there and know that there's over 450,000 student-athletes and only 350 got chosen. It's like less than one percent of the student-athlete population. So, it really put things in perspective and it's pretty awe inspiring," said Shadid.

While it's clear that Shadid has the support of team and department administrators, what really stands out is the support he gets from his family and teammates.

A sort of legacy in Bradley Athletics, Shadid is the son of Bradley baseball alum DJ Shadid and older brother to sophomore standout Luke Shadid. Additionally, Andy's uncle, George Shadid, played for Bradley in 1978-80, and cousin Jim Shadid (1976-79) remains the owner of Bradley's single-season and career stolen base records. With Bradley tradition running so deep in the Shadid family, it would be hard to imagine a situation where pride in Andy doesn't run just as deep.

"Me and my brother obviously grew up together, always competing against each other. But whenever something good happens to either of us we are so proud of each other," Andy said.

Shadid acknowledges the quality of character in his teammates as well, explaining that they recognize the opportunity presented for the team as well as Shadid as an individual.

"There's no jealously amongst anybody. It's just a great opportunity for the team as a whole that somebody from the baseball team can go and represent and learn about leadership and bring it back to the team," Shadid said.

Though Shadid was understandably excited about his trip to Washington, nobody seemed more enthusiastic about his opportunity than Head Coach Elvis Dominguez.

"Aren't we lucky? Aren't we lucky to have that big of an honor for Andy and for Bradley University? To be the first athlete ever chosen to go to Washington and to have that experience for him. It's always great to be the first one, and for [it to be] him. It couldn't have happened to a nicer kid," said Dominguez.

While Shadid holds honors as a 2016 Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American and a 2017 all-conference player, Dominguez recognizes the importance of Shadid's non-athletic skills in addition to his abilities as a player.

"That's one of the biggest attributes that I saw when I started recruiting him, is that not only was he a talented athlete but what he brings on the field from a leadership standpoint. It goes beyond words just for him to be able to lead a club and lead people. And how about knack for how to do it? It's great to see, especially at a young age. But to see him build upon that while he's been there has just been a tremendous asset to our program," Dominguez said.

Shadid's journey as a Bradley student-athlete has led him to achieve many things. In his two-and-a-half years as a Brave, he has numerous awards and accomplishments on which he can hang his hat, and his attendance at the NCAA Student-Athlete Leadership Forum stands out among them. He has at least one season left to achieve even more.

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Players Mentioned

#7 Andy Shadid: OF; 6' 0"; Junior; R/R

#10 Luke Shadid: IF; 5' 10"; Sophomore; R/R

Players Mentioned

#7 Andy Shadid
: 6' 0"; Junior; R/R
: OF

#10 Luke Shadid
: 5' 10"; Sophomore; R/R
: IF

Andy Shadid Leads On and Off the Field

Bradley Baseball junior outfielder Andy Shadid is on pace to graduate in May after representing the Braves at the 2017 NCAA Student-Athlete Leadership Forum

Players Mentioned

#7 Andy Shadid

#10 Luke Shadid

Players Mentioned

#7 Andy Shadid

#10 Luke Shadid