On Thursday, Illinois suspended the basketball star Terrence Shannon Jr following a rape charge for an alleged incident that occurred during his September football game at Kansas.
The Douglas county district attorney issued a warrant for arrest after his suspension.
Illinois Suspends Terrence Shannon
Illinois suspended Shannon immediately from all of his team activities. Shannon traveled to Lawrence, Kansas, on Thursday to turn himself into the authorities. Illinois reported that he posted bail and returned to Champaign.
Athletic director Josh Whitman released a statement and said, "The University and DIA (Division of Intercollegiate Athletics) have shown time and again that we have zero tolerance for sexual misconduct."
Whitman added that at the same time, the DIA policy affords student-athletes appropriate levels of due process based on the nature and severity of the allegations. He said they will rely on the policy and their prior experiences to manage the situation appropriately for the University and the involved parties.
The school admitted that they had been aware since late September that police in Lawrence were investigating Shannon. However, they still have not received any useful information until Wednesday.
Shannon, who spent three years at Texas Tech before moving to Illinois for his second season, places second in the Big Ten, scoring 21.7 points per game. Zach Edey of Purdue was the only one averaging more.
On Friday, No 11 Illinois has a home game against Fairleigh Dickinson.
Whitman is expected to speak to the press before the game. Brad Underwood, the coach, was unavailable to talk with the media on Thursday.
Illinois Best Players
Brad Underwood had his best season last year, leading the Illini to a 24-7 record. Illinois also advanced to the NCAA tournament's Round of 32 and won the Big Ten Tournament.
However, last year's team looked different. Adam Miller, Giorgi Bezhanishvili, and Ayo Dosunmu all left the show, and Dosunmu and Bezhanishvili both turned pro, while Miller moved to LSU.
Although losing those three players was painful, Illinois remained a strong team. Underwood filled in the gaps on the roster with his new coaching staff. Omar Payne and Alfonso Plummer joined the team via the transfer portal. As freshmen, RJ Melendez, Brandin Podziemski, and Luke Goode were added to the team.
Several influential players, including Trent Frazier, Da'Monte Williams, Andre Curbelo, and Kofi Cockburn, were also retained by Illinois. One of the most impactful players for 2021 and 2022 has been Trent Frazier. He played basketball for Illinois for four years and now predominantly plays 3-and-D while being a facilitator.
Furthermore, Frazier was already a redshirt senior and will look for more chances. He has mostly been a 3-and-D player and assumed a supporting position for the past two seasons.
