Leading guard Terrence Shannon Jr. was suspended by Illinois on Thursday following the issuance of an arrest warrant for him on suspicion of rape.
The warrant for the second-leading scorer in the Big Ten was issued on Wednesday by the district attorney of Douglas County, Kansas.
On September 8, Shannon was in Lawrence, Kansas, for the Illinois-Kansas football game when the claimed incident happened. Shortly after discovering the warrant, Shannon drove to Lawrence and surrendered himself; he also posted a $50,000 bond to fulfill the conditions of his release, his lawyer stated in a statement on Thursday.
Shannon, if found guilty, may be sentenced to “minimum of 147 months to a maximum of 653 months in prison and/or a fine of up to $300,000 and 36 months post-release supervision,” according to the charging paperwork.
Shannon plans to go to trial, according to attorney Mark P. Sutter.
“Since September, when these allegations surfaced, Terrence has cooperated with law enforcement throughout the investigation, declaring his innocence from the beginning,” Sutter said in a statement. “Now, several months later, my office learned that formal charges were filed against him yesterday in Lawrence, KS. In less than 24 hours, my client responded, and he voluntarily surrendered to local authorities for processing and release. Terrence is innocent of these charges, and he intends to take his case to trial.”
Illinois officials released a statement announcing that Shannon had been immediately suspended from all team activities.
“The Division of Intercollegiate Athletics (DIA) and the University take serious complaints of sexual misconduct while upholding the right to due process and the presumption of innocence provided by the legal system.
Since late September, DIA and Urbana campus officials have been aware of a Lawrence police investigation into Shannon; but, as of Wednesday, no concrete information has been received. The DIA’s policy on student-athlete misconduct is activated by Shannon’s arrest. Shannon has been immediately barred from participating in any team activities under that policy. Shannon will promptly notify anyone of any changes to his status.”
Shannon is playing for the 11th-ranked Fighting Illini (9-2, 1-0 Big Ten) and is having an All-American-caliber season, averaging 21.7 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 2.5 assists in 11 starts.
The 6-foot-6 senior from Chicago has career averages of 13.5 points and 3.9 rebounds in 125 games (95 starts) for Texas Tech (2019-22) and Illinois.
Be the first to comment