In his three years at Texas Tech, Shannon played ~75% of starters' minutes with reasonably high usage (much higher than Ty, and a good step up from QG) and had very good metrics like true shooting, ORtg/DRtg, WS/40, etc. In his first year with us, he had starters' minutes and his usage went up a step, while his metrics were at the high end (but generally within) of their pre-Illinois range. He had already established himself before Illinois and performed about as expected in his first year. Then he took it to another level in his last year with us.The vast majority of players start out as role players and evolve into being "the guy". It's a little bit different to have a group of guys that we aren't super familiar with come in and be expected to make that leap, but considering the talent they have and the experience they have gained at previous stops, it is their time to step up.
Prior to his arrival in Champaign, TJ was a 22-25 minute a game guy. His role at Texas Tech was similar to that of Ty or Quincy last year. A significant role player, but no one would have been surprised to see him on the bench for long stretches. We gave him 7 more minutes a game and he averaged 7 more points a game his first year as an Illini compared to his last year at TT. We needed him to become that guy, and that opportunity helped him find the confidence and drive for tremendous growth.
I get it, there is a lot we don't know about these guys. What we do know is that we have a heck of a coaching staff, and they have a pretty good track record of inspiring growth in the guys who commit to our culture.
The guys we have added have all the raw materials to make a team that can compete with the best in the country. There's some work left to do, but Illini basketball isn't a difficult thing to sell anymore. We've got good players on the roster. We are going to get good players to take the rest of the spots we are looking to fill. Then we just let that dozen or so guys scratch and claw for PT. I think it's going to work out just fine.
I'd be happy with one or two guys who were as good as TSJ was before he came here, but we haven't added anyone like that yet. So far, we've added guys with potential, but with more question marks about their performance so far than TSJ had. They might be great for us, but so far none are comparable to pre-Illinois TSJ.
I'm not saying anything critical about our outlook for next year since we're not done yet.