NBA Draft: Illinois guard Terrence Shannon Jr. discusses being selected by Minnesota Timberwolves

NBA Draft: Illinois guard Terrence Shannon Jr. discusses being selected by Minnesota Timberwolves

and uh was crazy man uh grateful I was it hit me like a bowling ball like I I I don’t know if I would cry cuz I ain’t cried in a long time but yeah that hit me I was I was just happy was happy um my dream came true and now it’s time to go to work what was the waiting like um it’s cool I took notes I all pass me but it’s all good it’s all good how much does that feel you been oh it feel me a lot you’re going to see you next year so with Minnesota being a win now team what do you expect to win for teammates competing in the playoffs uh whatever they need from me um I’m going to be a great teammate um whatever the coaches and the best players there and the staff uh want me to do I’m willing to do it um and just coming in and compete every day ter you had about a 30 second hug with your mom I you kind of walk us through the emotions of that moment with her that’s when it that’s when it really hit me right there uh I was just I mean I was just happy um hugging my mom it’s my mom she’ been here she been with me through everything uh she raised me um she my rock and I was just just happy to share that moment with her Terence going through what you went through and then getting into tonight just what is that what’s going through your mind as you come to this point and and get to experience that that’s all God man um he got a plan for everybody and we just all living living in his world man just all praise to him and I’m just grateful man I’m grateful uh being Chicago native how do you feel like that has shaped your mindset and your style of play I mean Chicago man you you got to be tough man to play here High School Middle School aou um just toughness man everybody going to compete every day um and like that’s where I get it from first round draft pick for Illinois since 2012 it’s been a long time uh what does that mean to you to be that guy to break through man it means a lot man like I said man I’m just grateful um the timber W took a took the opportunity uh to to to choose to pick me and and trust me uh with their draft pick and man I’m just grateful man grateful I’m happy and they a they not going to regret it man they not going to regret it how do you sum up with this last month has been for you it’s been tough man um but you know you can only control what you can control and I did that every day I just put my head down focus on basketball um man now I’m here how did Illinois help get you to this point man they’re they’re real supportive of me man and um supporting me throughout both both seasons here um coach Brad pushing me my team pushing me um and just than pushing me to stay consistent and be consistent uh as a leader and as a player your embrac with Brad just what you think about when you guys joined together and got to experience that it hit me again right there too man um Co coach Brad man he he hel me he held me to high expectations and he still does um and I was just real grateful to play for him um he’s one of the best coaches in the country in the college basketball and man he just he been there been there with me since day one um he never changed and I can say uh I really love him as a coach and and and as a person you found out last week you’re going in the rafters what was that like um I actually was on a call with Josh Whitman um before I had one of my before I had my workout with the Orlando Orlando Magic and it was me him and Coach Fletch on the phone and he told me and I was just I was just in shock um just like I was happy being grateful uh to be considered uh to be up there with all those other guys you said you’re taking notes how much will that be your mindset these first couple of years in the league I’m always taking notes no matter what man um just just being a being being a good Observer and just seeing how things play out and but yeah man I got a CHP on my shoulder for sure as the night went on did you feel like there was any doubt about getting selected in the first round I mean you never know man um you never know going into these type of uh deals I mean some guys some guys get promised uh some guys like know for sure where they’re going to go um I didn’t know um my agent just told me Agent B just told me to be ready man and and and teams are still in their talks and kind of got picked it’s kind of like a condensed pre-draft process it seems like it got probably Fast and Furious in the last week and a half like what was that like for you you um well I had eight workouts in nine days um but you know I mean nobody when you get to certain uh levels and I feel like in the next level like nobody car like what I was going through or oh is he going to come in and complain like nobody care they want to see what you’re doing that day and when you come in and work out for the team and I worked hard and I worked hard every workout um gave them my best effort I competed and I gave him my all man and that was my mindset talk about the rafters first round draft pick all American you know you’ve been kind of all over like what do you feel like your legacy that you left it Illinois or what do you hope it was um I mean I just just hope guys look at Illinois and and look at it as a good uh school and basketball program um coach Underwood he’s he’s a winner he’s going to do whatever he got to do to win and and I just hope guys look at that school and be like yeah um Illinois is a school I really want to go to kind of imprint do you feel like you had on on maybe making that you I kof like guys who help maybe make that attractive destination no it wasn’t me man um those guys paid away man and just followed in their footsteps and just tried to do better than them and just win man um but it wasn’t me man it was those guys all the guy like deep Brown kendle all those guys before me wasn’t had a chance to talk to you since uh the verdict came down was that a moment of relief for you how did you feel in that moment and then just today closing the chapter right starting new is that how you feel man it was I didn’t know what I felt man it was it was a feeling I never felt before and and I never been in no situation like that um never been in a predicament like that uh so just a feeling I never I don’t even know how to explain it it’s just a feeling that I I can’t explain but a new chapter you feel like you’re starting a new here yes sir definitely I starting a new chapter um in my life um I’m just I’m ready to go to work man I’m ready to be at the next level compete with those guys and when the NBA Championship Terence how were you able to play at such a high level with that hanging over your head through the rest of the season we get a chance to talk to you then just what what allowed you to do that cuz obviously it impacted your ability to get selected here uh like I said earlier man you can you can only control what you can control um it’s always going to be a away team screaming at you saying nasty things uh whether you going through something or not so rather you either going to choose to focus on that or focus on your team and and doing everything out and focus on those 40 48 minutes or 40 minutes um and that’s what I did man I just poured into my teammates uh my coaches my family and just like just focus like I would any other game didn’t bother me at all yeah Tai here tonight as well as some other members of the staff what those guys mean to you to show the support it means a lot um at first I didn’t know if t uh and some of those guys could get in because of their age and and the venue we were at but um I called him and uh I told him like you can go now and he was like man for real he was like man I was we were sitting here sad that we couldn’t go I was like yeah man uh y y’all can come and they were really happy and I it was I was really excited to see them boys and grateful they and grateful that they were able to come here and support me she had like a snapshot of tonight that you might think of in a week a month a year like what do you think I know what just happened but what do you think that might be since everybody having a phon sent me uh that was crazy um I don’t like to be in a liel like that but that was that was crazy um I never forget that moment at all I’m sure you wanted to go higher right but to go to a winning program a winning organization does that fit a little bit different does it feel a little bit different in that sense knowing that they they’re a winner right now yeah yeah I don’t I don’t like losing um so if I can contribute to winning um I always will that’s the type of player I am I’m going to come in and compete um bring positivity to the team and and be be and be a leader when I can um but yeah man I’m I’m happy to go to a winning team and and looking looking forward to December W was having that uh NBA championship Target tender was pretty good TN say it again Target tender was pretty good T it was I held it down for them when they were gone what do you think of the chance to play with Ant Man it’s great an’s an amazing player um he’s one of the best two-way players in the NBA um and that’s and that’s that’s something I’m looking to do I’m looking to be there right with him and compete with him uh lock lock down other other other good players and best players in the NBA um and I said I’m just ready to win ready to win uh from day one what are you looking to improve your game on what area um just shooting it more consistently um being being more being more aware um off the ball on the defensive end um but man I can I can improve every every aspect of my game um I can get faster um I can I can handle the ball better I can shoot better um I can make better passes um but just about getting better every day um I’ll talk with my talk with the staff of of the team I’m going to uh which is the wolves and and we we’ll get that figured out Terence when did you start dreaming this dream you know here in this city that you could get picked in the NBA I know you played football early in your uh time when did you start thinking about that as a possibility um a couple of days ago I actually had a dream um I told my agent uh I had a dream that uh I was told I got picked um and it was it was just crazy man um I was starting to have dreams you know you have dreams about it it’s starting to become a reality and became a reality for me

Illinois guard Terrence Shannon Jr. discusses being selected in the first round of the NBA Draft.