Illinois guard Terrence Shannon Jr. issues statement after judge rules to end suspension
Illinois guard Terrence Shannon Jr. released a statement on social media on Friday shortly after a local judge ruled in his favor and granted him a temporary restraining order against the Illini. Shannon had been suspended from the team since late December after he was charged with rape in Kansas.
Now Shannon will be allowed to play for the foreseeable future. He shared his excitement to retake the court.
“I am grateful for the opportunity to re-join my teammates and get back to work,” Shannon said on social media.
On the court, Shannon put together an impressive season after opting to return to Illinois this year. He was averaging 21.7 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game prior to his suspension late in December.
Illinois announced shortly after the decision that Shannon would be reinstated.
“We have received the Court’s Order. Effective immediately, Terrence Shannon Jr. has been reinstated to full status as a University student-athlete and will be available for basketball practice and competition,” a university spokesperson said, according to a report. “We will continue to review the Court Order and monitor the case.”
A judge’s ruling paved the way for Shannon to potentially return
Judge Colleen Lawless granted a temporary restraining order against the school that will allow Shannon to rejoin the team.
Shannon was originally suspended in late December 2023 by Illinois after a warrant was issued for his arrest for an alleged rape that took place in Kansas. Through his lawyers, Shannon quickly released a statement on the matter, indicating he would push back against the suspension that he claimed hadn’t followed processes laid out by the school’s own policies.
Those processes would be governed by the Office of Student Conflict Resolution, or OSCR. In her ruling, Lawless cited that the OSCR policy hadn’t been followed.
“Defendants are enjoined from suspending Plaintiff from the basketball team without at least affording him the protections of the OSCR policy,” Lawless’ ruling said, in part.
This does not prevent a future suspension for Shannon as the criminal case against him pends. But it does mean the Illinois administration will need to jump through a number of hoops to satisfy internal policies.
“The Court further finds that Plaintiff has no adequate remedy at law and will suffer irreparable harm without an injunction. The potential harm to Plaintiff outweighs any harm to the University. The public interest is not harmed by granting injunctive relief to allow for additional procedural safeguards while he is presumed innocent of the criminal charges,” Lawless said in her ruling.