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Injuries are a part of sports. Players get dinged up and miss a few plays, or maybe a game here or there. Sometimes they're out for week with something nagging. Sometimes it's more serious. And then there are players like Terrance Shannon.
In high school he set his school's scoring, rebounding and blocked shot records by the end of his junior year. But he never got to add to those records because he tore his ACL during a summer league tournament in Las Vegas and proceeded to miss his entire senior season. Once enrolled at FSU he got poked in the eye and missed the first four games of his freshman season. As a sophomore he had in-season knee surgery (his other knee) and somehow made it back after missing only five games. And as a junior, he was injured in the 7th game of the season when he dove for a ball against Connecticut and the opposing player landed on top of him, dislocating his shoulder (and yes, Shannon was called for a foul to top it off). He missed the rest of the season.
Missing that much time set his on-court development back, but he responded by becoming a warrior in the weight room. Now he's the one of the most physically imposing players in the conference (6-8, 240). And looking at his junior year (he received a medical redshirt and is still a junior) his basketball skills had finally approached the level of his workout skills.
At the time of his injury he was averaging 8.3 points and 4.4 boards, and his offensive efficiency was No. 1 on the team. Now he returns for a second junior season, and the Noles need him to remain healthy.
Shannon will be used off the bench. His motor and physicality make him a prime candidate to be a 6th man. Neither Kiel Turpin nor Okaro White (the likely starters) are overly physical players, so Shannon will come off the bench and remind opponents that 40 minutes of basketball versus a Leonard Hamilton team isn't supposed to be fun.
This is his fourth year in the system, so he knows what to do, and he understands his role. When the opponents defense breaks down he has a knack for finding openings and he rarely takes bad shots. He's spent the offseason working tirelessly on his free throws with the understanding that his entire game will be attacking the rim. He's not going to wow anyone with his post moves - rather, he creates space with his shoulders and finishes strong. Look for him to play nearly 20 minutes a game, and to put up numbers similar to what he was averaging when he got hurt.