If you're going to retire a player's jersey, do it right — right side up, that is.
During a halftime ceremony honoring former All-American men's basketball player Terrence Shannon Jr. on Saturday, the University of Illinois unfurled a banner from the rafters of State Farm Center depicting Shannon's No. 0 jersey upside down.
As reported by Sports Illustrated, cheers immediately turned into laughter – even from Shannon – as the banner was revealed.
To his credit, Illinois athletic director Josh Whitman spoke to the media in the postgame press conference, addressing the situation and issuing an apology to Shannon:
“Obviously, a really regrettable moment. It’s a shame that it happened that way. 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. 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 had returned to Champaign for the jersey ceremony during the NBA’s All-Star Weekend. Now a member of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Shannon has scored in double digits in each of his last two games. As a member of the Illini last season, Shannon averaged 23 points, 4 rebounds and 2.3 assists, leading Illinois to a Big Ten Tournament title and its first Elite Eight appearance in nearly two decades.
"Thoughtfully, Shannon’s special moment was re-created following the game," Jackson Langendorf of SI wrote. "The banner was hung right side up, and Shannon was able to take photos with coach Brad Underwood."
“To have a jersey that will hang ... I know how important it is to the fans here and I know [how] important it is for him," Underwood said during the postgame press conference. "He’s from Chicago, he grew up watching this, and to be up there with so few others, there’s not enough adjectives, there’s not enough words, for how proud I am.”
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo, whose team rallied from a 16-point first-half deficit to win the game and allow Izzo to overtake Indiana's Bob Knight as the winningest coach in Big Ten Conference history at 354 victories, added that Shannon’s jersey ceremony “really classy.”
