Trio of Kansas basketball players subpoenaed to testify in Terrence Shannon Jr. rape case
Several Kansas men’s basketball players have been subpoenaed to testify in the ongoing criminal case against Illinois star Terrence Shannon Jr., according to Champaign Showers. Shannon has been charged with rape in Douglas County, Kansas.
The Kansas players called to testify are Hunter Dicksinson, Kevin McCullar and Elmarko Jackson. The subpoenas were apparently filed on Friday.
All three subpoenas call for the players to testify at 9:00 a.m. on May 10, 2024.
A subpoena is, in essence, a court ordering an individual to testify in some capacity. It’s not an indication of any wrongdoing for the parties being compelled to testify. However, defying a criminal subpoena usually results in being held in contempt of court, opening up the possibility of arrest and jail time until one chooses to comply with the subpoena.
Shannon was charged in late 2023 and a warrant was issued for his arrest. He turned himself into police and was formally arrested, processed and released on bond days after Christmas. Illinois suspended him shortly thereafter.
But Shannon took that suspension to court, winning out and getting reinstated with the Fighting Illini.
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, federal judge Colleen 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.
Shannon continues to play for Illinois, as do the trio of Kansas players, though McCullar has dealt with injuries that have kept him out of the Kansas line up late.