Illinois Set To Hang Terrence Shannon's Jersey Number At State Farm Center
Former Illinois Fighting Illini guard Terrence Shannon will soon be in good company at State Farm Center.
Illinois athletic director Josh Whitman told reporters Thursday they plan to hang Shannon's No. 0 jersey in the rafters at the arena. He will become the 36th player in Illini history to earn the distinction. The last was Kofe Cockburn's No. 21 going up last season.
Shannon joins the likes of Dwight Eddleman (No. 40), Kenny Battle (No. 33), Nick Anderson (No. 25), Ayo Dosunmu (No. 11), Kendal Gill (No. 13) and Dee Brown (No. 11). Last year Shannon averaged 23 points, four rebounds and 2.3 assists on 47 percent shooting.
He led the Illini to the Elite Eight, where they lost to eventual champion UConn. Shannon was named first-team All-Big Ten and second-team All-American. He is an expected first-round pick in next week's NBA draft.
Many Illini fans started rallying for Shannon's number to be raised despite the fact he was dealing with nine months of adversity. Last December he began a six-game suspension because of rape charges from an alleged incident in Kansas in September. Earlier this month, Shannon was found not guilty.
— Terrence Shannon Jr (@Sn1per_T) June 14, 2024
After the trial, Shannon posted a message on X to thank everyone for their support.
"Thank you to everyone who stood by me these last nine months," he wrote. "I knew I was innocent of these horrible crimes and I had faith in God that someday everyone else would know that, too. I am so grateful to all of you for believing in me, especially my family, friends and legal teams whose support kept me going. I'm ready to put this chapter of my life behind me and fully focus on my path forward."
Shandel Richardson is the publisher of Illini Now. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com
SHANDEL RICHARDSON