Former Illinois standout Terrence Shannon Jr. was found not guilty on Thursday of rape and sexual aggravated battery charges by a jury in a Kansas courtroom.
Shannon was accused of sexually assaulting a woman on Sept. 8 in Lawrence, Kansas, while he was in town for an Illinois football game. He was arrested in Douglas County on Dec. 28 after police issued a warrant and released after posting a $50,000 bail.
He was ordered last month to stand trial on the two felony charges this week after a judge ruled at the preliminary hearing that there was probable cause for the trial to proceed. Shannon denied the allegations on the stand and was cleared after a 90-minute deliberation.
“We’re happy with the outcome,” said Mark Sutter, who was one of the attorneys representing Shannon. “Terrence Shannon Jr. finally got his day in court. We denied the allegations back in September, and on that date, we pledged that one day soon, we would have our day in court, and we did. And we’re happy with the outcome. And, at the end of the day, I think the public at large owes Shannon Jr. an apology.”
Shannon was suspended indefinitely by Illinois in December after his arrest. He returned after missing six games when he received a temporary restraining order from a federal judge, who ruled the program didn’t provide him due process at his school hearing.
The 23-year-old finished the season, leading the Fighting Illini to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2005. He was voted a third-team All-American and finished third in the country in scoring after averaging 23 points, four rebounds, 2.3 assists and one steal.
Shannon spoke for the first time about the incident last month at the NBA draft combine in Chicago, Illinois. He couldn’t say much about the allegations but said that he understood the severity of them and that he was looking forward to his day in court.
He was projected to be a first-round pick in the draft on June 26-27 prior to his arrest. His attorney said that he will begin predraft workouts with teams on Friday.
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