Former Illinois star Terrence Shannon Jr. speaks publicly for first time since December rape charge

Terrence Shannon Jr. dreamed about this when he played at Lincoln Park. When he suited up for the Mac Irvin Fire. When he committed to DePaul. When he changed course and headed to Texas Tech. And later, of course, when he left that school for Illinois.

Shannon’s NBA shot has arrived, with the draft right around the corner on June 27. And the hard-charging 6-6 scorer and gnarly defender, who has been training in Los Angeles since Illinois’ season ended in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament, is right here in Chicago — home — at the NBA Draft Combine this week.

What could be better?

Well, a lot.

Shannon spoke publicly Tuesday for the first time since his arrest in December on a rape charge in Kansas. His first words: ‘‘It’s been a very interesting five months, I would say.’’

A soft-spoken, guarded Shannon, 23, took long pauses as he answered questions from media at the Marriott Marquis adjacent to Wintrust Arena. He has been ordered to stand trial June 10 in Douglas County, Kansas, on first-degree felony rape and felony sexual aggravated battery charges stemming from an alleged incident Sept. 9 in which a woman accused him of sexually penetrating her with his fingers at a bar in Lawrence, home to the University of Kansas. Shannon pleaded not guilty at a preliminary hearing last week.

‘‘Obviously, it’s a real serious accusation, and I’m aware of that,’’ he said, ‘‘but I can’t go into much detail about it.’’

Asked whether he expected to be cleared at trial, he said, ‘‘I don’t know, [but] I’m looking forward to my day in court.’’

Originally considered a likely first-round pick in the draft, Shannon has slipped into the second round in some projections, the nature of the charges against him and the uncertainty of his future no doubt affecting his status. Also, because of what he termed a strained hamstring, Shannon is not participating in combine drills or scrimmages this week.

Still, he’ll be heavily scrutinized by NBA teams during interviews. What does he hope to convey to them?

‘‘Just explain what kind of person I am,’’ he said. ‘‘I feel like I’m a good kid, funny. I make sure everybody’s good, and I take care of everybody around me. . . .

‘‘I feel like I bring intensity and really high character. I compete at the highest level, and I’m never going to take any days off. I’m a hard worker, and I’m willing to do whatever [it takes] for any team. Whatever they need me to do, I’m willing to do it.’’

After being suspended indefinitely by Illinois and missing six games, Shannon won a federal case to have his suspension overturned and led the Illini on a run that included a Big Ten Tournament championship and reached the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. The lefty guard — who bills himself as ‘‘the best two-way player in the draft’’ — averaged 27.9 points in his final seven games and finished the season as the third-leading scorer in the country.

After returning to the court in January, he faced boos and ‘‘No means no!’’ chants — and worse — from opposing fans and bands but was able to ‘‘just tune it out.’’

‘‘I just felt like with things like that, you’ve just got to let your game speak for itself,’’ he said. ‘‘There’s going to be distractions everywhere, no matter if you’ve got something going on or not, and you’ve just got to learn to tune everything out and focus on the game. . . .

‘‘We won, so I enjoyed it. I mean, as long as I’m getting to play basketball, I’m happy. Just being out there with my brothers and having coach Brad [Underwood] coach me, I was happy.’’

By February, an odd pattern began to set in — Shannon erupting on the court and then being silent off it, despite reporters’ growing desire to speak with a player who was blowing up into an All-American. He had outbursts of 28, 31, 27, 35 and 29 points in a six-game stretch in February. He took it up a notch once tournament play began, as media from around Big Ten country and beyond took heightened interest and asked Illinois to make him available to be interviewed.

But at the Big Ten Tournament and in the NCAAs, when teams’ locker rooms are open to the media after games, the pattern took a more awkward turn. Not only was Shannon not speaking in news conferences — at the instruction of his lawyers — but now he essentially was being snuck out of the locker room before reporters walked in and stashed away until they were gone.

So speaking publicly here was a big deal — and, one presumes, in Shannon’s best interests as a draft prospect. NBA teams have enough to think about already when it comes to potentially selecting him. The less awkwardness in the air around him, the better.

Shannon said he’s doing ‘‘perfectly fine mentally.’’

‘‘I’m controlling what I can control,’’ he said, ‘‘and that’s handling things day-to-day, putting the work in and getting ready for my dream to play in the NBA.’’

Contributing: Kyle Williams