Former Illinois basketball All-American giving a jolt to an NBA franchise

The Minnesota Timberwolves are getting much-needed help from a former Illinois basketball star.

While the Illini continue to try to fight for their NCAA tournament standing, a former Brad Underwood student is starting to really come into his own in the NBA.

Back in June 2024, the Minnesota Timberwolves had a pick late in the first round of the NBA Draft. A team that already has some talented guard depth didn’t go with a frontcourt player, like a big who could stretch the floor. Instead, they decided to go with Illinois guard, Terrence Shannon Jr.

It is honestly hard to find first round NBA picks who are above the age of 21, let alone Shannon who spent five seasons in the college ranks and his final two in Champaign.

Shannon, who was about a month away from his 24th birthday at the time, joined a Timberwolves franchise that had future NBA Hall of Famer Anthony Edwards, along with Mike Conley, who has held his own in the backcourt for years. Not to mention, Minnesota drafted Rob Dillingham with the No. 8 overall pick in 2024.

With a loaded backcourt, Shannon started his playing career in the G-League. Illinois fans knew Shannon’s work and what he could do on the floor, and he instantly showed the Iowa Wolves the talent he possessed. This got him the call up to the NBA.

Shannon’s playing time started in drips. Over the past month, his game started to go on full display. Shannon has now played at least 13 minutes in seven straight games. In this stretch, he is averaging 8.6 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per contest.

The recent boost in performance was capped off with an overtime win over the Oklahoma City Thunder, the current No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. In this victory, Shannon finished with his first double-double, dropping 17 points, 10 rebounds, two blocks, one assist, and one steal while going 7-of-10 from the field.

Don’t let the recent Minnesota Timberwolves record fool you, Terrence Shannon Jr. has this team playing good basketball

Right now, the Timberwolves sit with a record of 32-27 and are currently the No. 7 seed, just outside of avoiding the play-in game. When you look at the recent trends, it doesn’t look like Minnesota is doing that well, though.

The Timberwolves have dropped four out of the last six contests. There are a couple of reasons for this. The first being that they are still building chemistry. Having younger players coming up and making an impact will take some time to get used to. Shannon is now in the fold, and the team is starting to gel and play well, as you can see with the win over the Thunder.

Another reason for the struggles in the last six games is that Minnesota has played the top teams in the NBA. In that six-game stretch, the Timberwolves played at Cleveland, Milwaukee, Oklahoma City, at Houston, Oklahoma City, and at Oklahoma City. The two wins were over the Thunder, the No. 1 team in the Western Conference. Cleveland is the No. 1 team in the Eastern Conference. Houston and Milwaukee are the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds in their respective conferences as well.

Now that Shannon is playing well, you should probably buy stock in the Timberwolves. They just went through a gauntlet of the best teams in the NBA, and they came out on the other side even stronger. Watch out for this team come playoff time.