By Doug Petrowski

MTHS alum Ryan Shannon won’t be seeing any game action while a member of the Montana State University men’s basketball team this season as he has decided to redshirt his freshman year with the Bobcats, according to Mountlake Terrace Head Coach Nalin Sood.

By skipping any playing time, Shannon preserves four years of college eligibility to play basketball at Montana State starting in 2013-14.

Shannon reportedly will not be with his Bobcat teammates when Montana State opens their 2012-13 season on Sunday in a matchup with Seattle University at Key Arena.

The 2012 graduate of Mountlake Terrace High School helped lead the Hawks to a 23-3 overall record and a 3A State Tournament berth last season. The 6-8 forward averaged 10.5 points, 10.1 rebounds and 2.5 blocked shots per game during his senior year for the Hawks, his only season with MTHS. Shannon played his first three years of high school basketball at Marysville-Pilchuck.

Division 1 Montana State University, located in Bozeman, is a member of the eleven-team Big Sky Conference, and is predicted by media members and conference coaches to place in the middle of the 2012-13 conference standings.