Big Ten shoots down Wisconsin band's 'No Means No' chant toward Terrence Shannon

During the first half of Sunday’s Big Ten Tournament championship game, the Wisconsin band broke out in a chant heard during many an Illinois game this season. Terrence Shannon Jr. was at the free throw line as “no means no” rang through the Target Center – and the Big Ten stepped in to stop it.

The chant stems from Shannon’s legal issues this season. He is facing a rape accuastion in Kansas stemming from a September incident when he went to KU to watch the Illinois football team take on the Jayhawks. Illinois initially suspended Shannon pending the result of the investigation, but a judge granted a temporary restraining order paving the way for him to return to the court.

In the time since he came back, Shannon has heard the “no means no” chants from opposing fans, and that was again the case during Sunday’s title game. According to The Athletic’s Brian Hamilton, a conference official had a simple explanation for telling the Wisconsin band to stop.

“Are we seriously going to argue about this right now?” the official said.

More background on the allegations against Terrence Shannon

Shannon turned himself into police in December, but his lawyer maintained his innocence in the situation. Illinois confirmed he was not there on university business and his suspension fell under the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics’ (DIA) policy about sexual misconduct and the need for due process to play out.

However, Judge Colleen Lawless granted a TRO and said the school didn’t follow its policy with his initial suspension.

“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.

The ruling did not prevent a future suspension for Shannon as the criminal case against him pends. However, it meant the Illinois administration would 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,” Lawless said in her ruling. “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.”

Shannon has been a key piece on the court for Illinois this season, averaging a team-high 22.6 points per game entering Sunday’s title game against Wisconsin. He was coming off a 40-point performance in the semifinals against Nebraska, which set a new Big Ten Tournament record. He nearly repeated that showing in the championship with 34 points against Wisconsin to lead the Fighting Illini to a 93-87 victory to bring home a tournament title.