Ex-Illinois star Terrence Shannon Jr. found not guilty of rape charge

The alleged incident took place in Lawrence, Kan., where Shannon was in town to watch the Illinois football team face Kansas. A woman accused Shannon of grabbing her arm to pull her closer in a crowded bar, then reaching under her skirt to assault her. During a three-day trial in which the woman and Shannon both took the stand, he denied committing those acts and said (via WAND-TV) that he never saw the woman until a preliminary hearing last month.

“As we stated in September ’23, we emphatically denied these charges and waited for our day in court,” Mark P. Sutter, an attorney for Shannon, said in a statement provided to The Washington Post. “That time has come, the jury has spoken, and justice was served. The public at large owes Terrence Shannon Jr. an apology.”

“It takes tremendous courage for a survivor of sexual assault to come forward,” a spokesperson for the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office said. “We will continue to pursue justice on behalf of survivors.”

Illinois suspended Shannon, a third-team all-American last season, in December after a warrant was issued for his arrest. After missing six games, he was reinstated when a federal judge ruled that the university violated Shannon’s civil rights by denying him the ability to pursue economic opportunities without due process.

“Prior to his suspension, plaintiff was projected to be a lottery pick in the NBA,” U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Lawless wrote at the time. “His participation in future games impact his prospects in the draft and his earning potential.”

Shannon went on to lift the Illini to a 29-9 record and a berth in an NCAA tournament Elite Eight, where they lost to eventual champion Connecticut. At the NBA draft combine in Chicago last month, he told reporters he couldn’t “go into much detail” about his case but said, “I’m looking forward to my day in court.”

A 6-6 guard-forward whose five-year college career began with three seasons at Texas Tech, Shannon led the Illini last season with 23 points per game, placing him second in the Big Ten and third in Division I. He was named first-team all-Big Ten and the conference tournament’s most outstanding player.

After being found not guilty Thursday, Shannon shared a video online that interspersed highlights from his Illinois career with footage of him training at a gym. He added the caption “AGTG,” short for “All glory to God.”