Not only is Illinois guard Terrence Shannon an impressive basketball player, he was also pretty good in football in high school.
A recent highlight video of him resurfaced of him playing at wide receiver at Lincoln Park in the Chicago area. Here's a look:
Last week Shannon averaged 34 points in three games in the Big Ten tournament, leading the Illini to the championship. It helped them earn the No. 3 seed in this week's NCAA Tournament. The Illini play Morehead State Thursday in the first round of the East Regional in Omaha.
Here's what his teammates have said about Shannon the last week entering the NCAA Tournament:
Guard Luke Goode: "It makes it easy on us. You get a defensive rebound and look for him in transition. That's basically the key to it. When you have someone as gifted of a scorer and as gifted of an athlete that can get downhill and still go 5 for 9 from 3, it's special."
Guard Marcus Domask: "Terrence, he's got a motor that just keeps going. He doesn't get tired. Little by little, he just wears teams down. He drew 10 fouls. That just hurts teams."
Coach Brad Underwood: "I was very, very fortunate that I coached Michael Beasley as a freshman [at Kansas State] averaged 26 and 12. Unfortunately, I saw Michael do that quite a bit. I saw him have an unbelievable game in Allen Field. I have [seen a performance like Shannon's before] but that was pretty special today."
Forward Quincy Guerrier: “It’s really hard to stop him in transition. I don’t think any team in the country can stop him.”
Forward Ty Rodgers: Nobody can stop him. I think he's the best player in the country by far. When he's in that mode, you can't get him out. I think in transition, he's electric. Guys don't have answers for him. He's showing why he's the best player in the country."
Shandel Richardson is the publisher of the Illini Now. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com
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