Terrence Shannon Jr.'s journey to the NBA was longer than that of most first-rounders, including a trying last year in college with an off-the-court challenge that cast doubt over his professional prospects.

Shannon landed with the Minnesota Timberwolves, a place that sure looks like an ideal fit.

The Timberwolves took Shannon out of Illinois with the 27th overall draft pic'k, their original selection, in the first round last week after making a trade with San Antonio to obtain the eighth overall pick for the rights to Rob Dillingham from Kentucky.

Shannon was found not guilty last month on a rape charge after a jury in Kansas spent less than two hours deliberating. He’d been accused of sexually assaulting a woman in a bar last year while on a road trip to attend a football game, leading to a suspension by the school that eventually was halted by a federal judge’s ruling that his civil rights had been violated. Shannon testified at the trial he’d never seen the woman. His lawyers called the case a “blind accusation.”

The seriousness of the situation loomed over Shannon and the Illini all season, but they rarely wavered. Shannon, who was an All-Big Ten first team and All-American third-team selection by The Associated Press, was voted the Most Outstanding Player of the Big Ten Tournament after a three-day thrill ride at Target Center gave the Illini the title.

The two rookie guards were introduced at a news conference in the Target Center atrium, after they each threw out ceremonial first pitches the night before at a Twins game across the street.

The Timberwolves also rounded out their roster with an agreement Wednesday on a one-year, $3.3 million contract with free agent forward Joe Ingles, according to a person with knowledge of the negotiation. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the deal had not yet been finalized.

Ingles spent the first eight seasons of his career with Utah, where he played with current Timberwolves Mike Conley and Rudy Gobert. The 6-foot-9 native of Australia will join his fourth team in four years after playing for Milwaukee and Orlando the previous two seasons.

When the accusation arose last December, Shannon for legal reasons stopped doing interviews despite being the star player of a top-15 team that reached the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament before getting blown out by eventual champion UConn.

Two months ago at the NBA pre-draft combine, he finally broke his silence, though because the trial was looming he stopped short of discussing any subject beyond basketball.

The Timberwolves were adamant about the quality of Shannon’s character. President of basketball operations Tim Connelly said the team did “a ton” of due diligence and was nothing but encouraged about the person and the player it was getting.

After averaging 23 points per game and becoming one of the best two-way players in the country last season, Shannon at age 23 with five seasons of major conference experience — he started his college career at Texas Tech — ought to be as rotation-ready as any of the recent draft picks on Minnesota’s roster.

Dillingham is just 19. Shannon is older than second-rounders from the previous two drafts, too: Jaylen Clark (22), Leonard Miller (20) and Josh Minott (21).