Illinois Basketball: Illini make top 4 for Terrence Shannon
More big news filtered through to the Illinois basketball team on Friday night.
One of their top targets and in-state recruits, Terrence Shannon, decided to cut his list down to four teams. The four programs he kept alive in his recruitment included Florida State, Maryland, DePaul and Illinois. It is exciting to still be included in Shannon’s decision, but I am done with just making top lists. Illinois now needs to close the deal and land their first class of 2019 commitment.
Shannon is a 6-foot-6, 185-pound small forward from Lincoln Park High School in Chicago, Illinois. He is rated as a four-star recruit who is the No. 92 player in the class of 2019 and the No. 22 small forward in the nation
While Shannon played for Lincoln Park last season, he will be heading down to Florida this year to play his final season of high school basketball with IMG Academy. This is a big move to a big-time prep school. The move also makes me slightly nervous after I look at the teams he included in his top four.
Of course, Illinois and DePaul are both great options for Shannon because of the location to his family and where he grew up. Illinois is the big in-state program and DePaul is a Chicago team and could be up-and-coming in the basketball world.
The addition of Maryland is a head scratcher to me. I don’t know how much of a shot they have at landing Shannon, but they did make his top four, so they aren’t out of it yet. I would probably put them as the least likely to snag this talented wing player.
Honestly, the team that worries me the most, now, is Florida State. If Shannon wasn’t heading down to IMG Academy to finish his high school ball, I wouldn’t give the Seminoles a second thought. But, he is going to be down there for a year of schooling, and this enables Florida State coaches’ easier access to the kid. That always makes me nervous.
If I had to handicap the race for Shannon right now, I would put Illinois in the lead at 40-percent. I would then give Florida State 30-percent, DePaul 25-percent and Maryland 5-percent.
Illinois needs a player like Shannon for the class of 2019. They have missed out on some big-time players already. Let’s change the tides and start building this class into a powerhouse.