Terrence Shannon Jr To Enter The NBA Draft

Illini star, Terrence Shannon Jr has decided to enter the NBA Draft.

On a social media post this afternoon, Illini forward Terrence Shannon Jr announced that he will be entering the 2023 NBA Draft. Shannon Jr did not specify whether he will maintain another year of college eligibility, however the news for the Chicago native to enter the draft is no surprise.

Shannon Jr elevated his game after transferring to Illinois from Texas Tech. The Lincoln Park native averaged career highs in points per game, steals, blocks and more during his year in the Orange and Blue. He surprisingly has one more year left of eligibility due to the rules started by COVID-19.

Terrence Shannon Jr’s Draft profile.

Shannon Jr has all the tools of a prototype NBA player. He is a 6 foot 6 guard/wing and is a plus athlete. He proved this year that he is a train going to the rim, while also showing off some solid, yet streaky shooting from the perimeter. His game against UCLA even had him in the talks to be an early first round pick. Currently, ESPN’s most recent Mock draft has him going at number 40. I think given his age, limited offensive shot profile, despite his plus athleticism and strength makes him a candidate for an early second round pick. He has the chance to latch on to an NBA team that is trying to make the playoffs much like former Illini, Ayo Dosunmu.

Shannon Jr previously participated in the 2021 NBA draft combine, hence the details of a possible return are not clear. However, if possible to return to Champaign, there is some intrigue.

Unfinished Business pt 2?

As stated in previous posts, this season did not go the way that Illinois wanted to. In fact, the end of the season left quite a sour taste in everyone’s mouth. It has been clear that Terrence enjoyed putting on for his home state in front of his family. He also was a public supporter of Brad Underwood, despite questions around his coaching methods. There is plenty of pull for the forward to come back and make things right.

NIL will definitely play a large role. He has a chance to cement himself as a Champaign legend if all goes well for one more year, much like Ayo Dosunmu and Kofi Cockburn did. Given the Illini ICON collective, the NIL “bag” will be quite large.

Illinois also is putting a lot more older pieces in hopes of creating a more tantalizing roster for another run at the top of the Big Ten. Playing without a true point guard certainly hurt the efficiency of every player on this team, especially Coleman Hawkins and Terrence Shannon Jr. Would landing one, perhaps another Chicago native, be enticing? Illinois will certainly be looking to look for players who enter the transfer portal after testing the NBA draft.

Shannon Jr. was one of a kind.

Regardless of what Terrence decides to do in the NBA Draft, he was a player Illinois has not had in quite some time. Though Ayo Dosunmu has cemented himself as an NBA player, he has a different type of game than the athleticism and explosiveness that Shannon showed. If Illinois loses Shannon Jr to the draft, they will have to do some deep digging to replace their star.