Terrence Shannon Jr. and the #12 Illinois Fighting Illini open their NCAA tournament against Morehead State at 2:10 p.m. central time in Omaha, Nebraska on Thursday. Tom McCarthy, Debbie Antonelli, Avery Johnson and AJ Ross will be on the call. The Illini are the #3 seed in their region, with MSU the #14.
Illinois comes into this game having won eight of their last nine, with the lone L being a loss to the tournament’s #1 overall seed in Purdue.
In men’s B1G Tourn history, 4 players scored 90+ pts in a single tourney:
• Keegan Murray – 103 pts (IOWA, 2022)
• Terrence Shannon Jr – 102 (ILL, ‘24)
• Duane Washington Jr – 92 (OSU, ‘21)
• Luke Recker – 91 (IOWA, ‘02)Shannon Jr. is the only one to do so in just 3 games. pic.twitter.com/Mcjq28FKtq
— Ben Stevens (@BenScottStevens) March 17, 2024
They won the Big Ten Tournament yesterday by just simply outscoring everybody. They put on masterclass after masterclass, on the offensive end, while just enough defense to get the job done. Terrence Shannon Jr. led the way, earning the tournament Most Outstanding Player award and shattering scoring records along way.
He nearly broke the all-time BTT total points scored record in just three games while everyone else near the top of that list played four!
Terrence Shannon Jr. in his last three games:
34 PTS | 8-15 FG | 3-6 3PT
40 PTS | 11-22 FG | 5-9 3PT
28 PTS | 3 REB | 3 ASTShannon Jr. leads Illinois to their second Big Ten Tournament championship in four years? pic.twitter.com/3lCFDNsTI4
— B/R Hoops (@brhoops) March 17, 2024
You can see why he’s projected to be a first round pick in the NBA Draft. Television announcer Robbie Hummel Jr. called him the Lebron of college basketball.
However, you also might have noticed that while he was shooting free throws during the BTT final, the Wisconsin fan section was chanting “no means no.”
It was very audible during the CBS broadcast, and the announce team ignored it.
This is nothing new, as all opposing student sections have done this chant to him since he returned in January. Now if you’re an Illini fan, you already know the backstory here. Shannon was charged with the crime of rape, in the state of Kansas, in late December. That case is open and still ongoing.
Now that it is March Madness, the team, and TSJ or TJ, himself, will have a much brighter spotlight shined upon them. That means this case will come back to the forefront.
Again this is just a simple fact. It means there is going to be a lot misinformation and disinformation out there.
It’s time to combat that.
So we’re re-linking all of our stories that we did on him and his legal situation this season here. We have no idea if he’s guilty or innocent, and won’t speculate; never have never will.
But here’s the full archives: Dec 28- Terrence Shannon Jr. responds to the charges, claims innocence.
Jan. 5- the incident report comes out, and more information is revealed.
Jan 9- Shannon takes legal action against the University.
Jan. 19- Shannon is reinstated and starts playing again.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to Ravens Wire, part of the USA Today SMG’s NFL Wire Network. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and the Washington Times. You can follow him on Twitter.