Terrence Shannon Jr. Selling Shirts for Charity After Viral Illinois Jersey Mishap

Terrence Shannon Jr. is using Saturday's mishap during his jersey retirement ceremony for a good cause.

The former Illinois player announced Tuesday that he is selling shirts for charity that say "when life has you upside down, turn it around."

The shirt is a reference to what happened Saturday when Illinois celebrated Shannon by retiring his jersey during the men's basketball game against Michigan State. The banner showing his retired jersey was upside down, which drew quite the reaction from the crowd:

The situation was eventually rectified, but the mistake generated headlines and overshadowed the game.

Michigan State ended up winning 79-65 behind 23 points from Jaxon Kohler, which gave it momentum before Tuesday's critical game against Purdue. The Spartans are in second place in the Big Ten and one game behind Michigan and a half-game ahead of the Boilermakers.

As for Saturday's upside-down banner, Illinois athletic director Josh Whitman took responsibility for the mistake after the game.

"Of course, I didn't hang the jersey, but I'm ultimately responsible for everything that happens in this building and ultimately that means that was on me tonight," he said, per ESPN's Myron Medcalf. 

"We need to make sure we understand that in life, mistakes happen. But there are also certain moments where mistakes can't happen. And tonight, we stole that moment from [Shannon] and that's on us and something that we have apologized to him for, apologized to his mom. We want to make sure that we apologize to our fans and everybody who was excited to be a part of this experience tonight."

Shannon played at Illinois for two seasons after transferring from Texas Tech.

His best season came in 2023-24 when he was named to the All-Big Ten First Team and the Associated Press All-America Third Team while averaging 23.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.0 steals per game. He also won the Big Ten Tournament MVP and led the Fighting Illini to the Elite Eight.

Shannon was suspended during the middle of the season after he was charged with sexual assault. He was reinstated following a legal challenge from his lawyers and eventually found not guilty of rape and aggravated sexual assault during his ensuing trial.

The Minnesota Timberwolves ended up selecting him with the No. 27 pick of the 2024 NBA draft, and he has appeared in 16 games during his rookie season.