Terrence Shannon Jr. granted temporary restraining order against Illinois for suspension stemming from rape charge

Illinois basketball guard Terrence Shannon Jr. will have his school-imposed suspension for an alleged rape in 2023 lifted after a judge ruled the school didn’t follow policy in suspending him initially, according to Brett Beherns. 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.

BREAKING: Terrence Shannon Jr. has been granted his TRO by Judge Colleen Lawless in his civil suit against the University of Illinois:

"Defendants are enjoined from suspending Plaintiff from the basketball team without at least affording him the protections of the OSCR policy" pic.twitter.com/iJ44HYc0AS

— Bret Beherns (@WCIA3Bret) January 19, 2024

“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 addressed the charge through his attorney

Shannon reported to authorities and surrendered on in December. However, his lawyer — Mark P. Sutter — is maintaining his innocence as the legal process continues.

“Since September, when these allegations surfaced, Terrence has cooperated with law enforcement throughout the investigation, declaring his innocence from the beginning,” Sutter said, via The Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman. “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.”