Illinois Basketball: 5 big questions for the Illini against Fairleigh Dickinson

5. Does Terrence Shannon Jr. continue scoring tear?

I touched on Terrence Shannon Jr.’s great ability to rebound the basketball in the previous slide. At 6-foot-6, the kid led both Missouri and Illinois in rebounds. That is insane.

But everyone knows that Shannon’s scoring is what gets the headlines. He is an incredible scorer, especially this season. Shannon is averaging 21.7 points per game and is shooting 51.4% from the field and 40.8% from three-point range, all of which are career highs.

So, I want to see if Shannon can continue his great scoring. Can he continue the scoring tear that he is on?

Shannon isn’t just putting up big scoring numbers. He is actually on pace to set some Illinois records in the wake of his great offensive ability.

Currently, Shannon has 239 points through 11 games. If he plays 31 games this season, he would finish his final year at Illinois with 673 points. Looking at the record book, that would put him No. 1 in single-season scoring, right ahead of Don Freeman who had 668 points in 1966.

On top of that, if Shannon does finish with 673 points, he would amass 1,207 points during the two-year stint at Illinois. That would put him No. 36 in career scoring for the Illini. He would be just ahead of Tracy Abrams and Rodger Powell, who both played four seasons at Illinois. Shannon would also pass Nick Anderson, who scored 1,172 points in two seasons in Champaign.

Shannon is a special talent who has developed his game to an elite level. He is doing some special things this season, and buckle up Illinois fans, we could be in for a record-breaking year.