Tag: Noah Shannon

The Iowa Hawkeyes are still hoping to get good news at some point on the eligibility status of sixth-year defensive lineman Noah Shannon.

Ruled ineligible for the entirety of this season by the NCAA for his sports gambling violations, there was hope that the NCAA’s infractions committee would rethink their punishment on appeal. After Shannon’s eligibility appeal was denied in early September, that appeared to close the book on him ever suiting up for the black and gold again.

The 6-foot, 295 pound defensive lineman from Aurora, Ill., would end his Hawkeye career with 107 career tackles, 11 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks across 42 games played and 28 starts. Shannon had already transitioned into a role as one of the Hawkeyes’ student assistants.

Then, news broke that the Division I Committee on Student-Athlete Reinstatement and Legislative Committee would reexamine sports wagering reinstatement guidelines.

Specifically, the committees were set to review penalties for student-athletes who participate in sports wagering, but not on their own teams. One of the draft concepts under consideration was eliminating penalties that result in student-athletes being withheld from competition on a first offense.

That would apply in Shannon’s case and would mean that he’s suddenly eligible to play for the Hawkeyes in his sixth and final season.

Though Shannon has been cleared to practice by the NCAA and is back on the Hawkeyes’ active roster, Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz said on Tuesday that there still isn’t any clarity on when or if he will indeed be eligible to return this season.

“He looks good in pads and he practices well. That hasn’t changed. He’s got fresh legs, too, I guess. But, we’re just waiting on the NCAA, so hopefully they’ll do the right thing. How soon that’s going to be, if it’s one call, two calls, I don’t know.

“It’s okay. I mean, time’s ticking. He’s getting older. All of us are getting older and hopefully it’s sooner than later they make a decision. I say it jokingly, it’s really not very funny. In fact, it’s not funny at all. Yeah, we’ll see. I don’t know. I don’t have any firm date on what’s going to happen or when,” Ferentz said.

Iowa hosts Minnesota this week at 2:30 p.m. CT on Saturday in the battle for the Floyd of Rosedale. After this week’s contest against the Golden Gophers, Iowa gets a week off with its bye before traveling to Chicago to square off against Northwestern from Wrigley Field on Nov. 4.

Ferentz was asked if the Northwestern game was a realistic timeline for Shannon’s potential return.

“If they call tomorrow, that would be great. To me they probably could have done it in June. That’s my, looking at this whole thing. But that’s discussion for a different day, too.

“If they wanted to call tomorrow, it would be outstanding. We’ll have him out there Saturday if they do. I don’t think that’s going to happen. I don’t know when it’s going to happen,” Ferentz said.

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Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz revealed some great news on Tuesday ahead of the Hawkeyes’ key road date at Wisconsin.

Sixth-year defensive lineman Noah Shannon is back on the roster and back practicing with the team.

“And then some recent developments that I’ll share, Noah Shannon has been cleared to practice. I don’t know what we’ll learn or when we’ll learn his status moving forward. But at least we have him on the field now. He’s back on the roster and able to be part of the team as a football player instead of a guy helping out a little bit. So that’s positive, and we’ll keep our fingers crossed as we move forward,” Ferentz said of Shannon’s return.

Of course, Shannon was suspended by the NCAA back in August for his involvement in sports gambling. Then, in September, his yearlong suspension was subsequently upheld on appeal. After the NCAA’s initial decisions, Shannon had been working with the team as a student assistant.

Now, after the Division I Council directed the Division I Committee on Student-Athlete Reinstatement and Legislative Committee to reexamine the legislation and application of reinstatement guidelines for student-athletes who engage in sports wagering, it sounds like there’s some light at the end of the tunnel for Shannon.

It was at the request of the Collegiate Commissioners Association that the Division I Council suggested reexamining the reinstatement guidelines last week. Specifically, the committees were set to review penalties for student-athletes who participate in sports wagering, but not on their own teams.

Draft concepts under consideration include the following:

• On a first offense, eliminate penalties that result in student-athletes being withheld from competition — regardless of the dollar value of the wagers and including bets placed on other sports at a student-athlete’s school — and require education on sports wagering rules and prevention.
• On a second offense, potentially involve withholding penalties, depending on the dollar value of the bet(s) in question.
• On a third or subsequent offense, resulting penalty could be a loss of one full season of eligibility.

For Shannon, that would mean a full return to action if these changes to sports wagering penalties do indeed come to pass.

When Ferentz said he, Shannon and Iowa planned to appeal the NCAA’s initial decision, he revealed that Shannon had bet on one of Iowa’s other sports teams.

“Yeah, so I know he bet on one of our other sports teams here, and I understand that may be a bad thing. He bet for them, and I’m guessing he got caught up in the emotion. Again, I don’t do this stuff, but it’s on their phones, people are enticing them with apparently three hundred bucks credit if you go with us, all that stuff. I think it’s just time to really recognize the world these guys are living in and maybe be a little bit compassionate towards that,” Ferentz said.

Now, it feels as though that’s how this saga is trending to ultimately play out. It’s a shame that the change in sports wagering enforcements would come past the midway point of Shannon’s final season, though.

Due to the uniqueness of the situation, Ferentz wasn’t sure on Tuesday when Shannon would be physically ready to return to game action.

“I really don’t know. We’ve never been in this situation. He missed a lot of time. He has a great attitude. He’s been around and was working through an injury. Probably couldn’t play physically until a couple of weeks ago. Hasn’t been in pads in quite a while now.

“So, we’ll see. But I don’t know even when the decision is going to be made so at least we have ample time to get him ready, hopefully,” Ferentz said.

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It’s now a fact. Noah Shannon won’t play for the Iowa Hawkeyes this football season.

After appealing its ruling of a yearlong suspension due to his involvement with sports gambling, the NCAA has officially denied Shannon’s appeal and upheld its initial yearlong suspension.

Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz revealed the news in his weekly press conference to preview the Hawkeyes’ final nonconference home date versus Western Michigan.

“Unfortunately, we received some disappointing news, very disappointing news regarding Noah’s appeal to the NCAA and it was denied, so that thing puts it to rest. I’m not quite sure what went into the decision, but what I can tell you is that Noah’s just a tremendous young man, has been.

“Came back for his sixth year and just a highly respected leader in our locker room and certainly with our coaching staff. I feel very, very unfortunate and our goal is to keep him with the program, keep him close, have him remain as a part of the team. Obviously, he can’t play, but he’s run a heck of a race and we’re just really disappointed with this whole thing. He’s been honest throughout this whole process, very transparent and I think about as honest as you can be. One thing I do want to emphasize, he did not break any laws at all,” Ferentz said.

Before the 2023 season began, Shannon chose to forego his opportunity to attend Big Ten Media Days due to his involvement in Iowa’s ongoing sports gambling investigation. Then, in late August, Ferentz revealed that Shannon had bet on one of the University of Iowa’s other sports teams.

Ferentz reiterated his disappointment in what he deemed as the NCAA appeals committee’s inability to make a decision that reflected the current state of American society and collegiate athletics.

“He is guilty of an NCAA violation. He was very upfront about that, and so that is that, but basically I don’t agree with or understand quite frankly the decision, especially when it comes to the severity of the punishment. To me, that’s really disappointing, especially considering our current environment right now, which, believe me, the last couple months I’m a lot more in tune to than I had been certainly.

“Probably the most disappointing thing I think the panel that heard the appeal had an opportunity to really do something, make a decision that to me would reflect reason and also reflect the changing environment and they failed to do so, so that is what it is, we’ll move on and just disappointed on that front certainly,” Ferentz said.

Shannon’s career with the Hawkeyes ends with 42 career games played, including 28 starts. The 6-foot, 295 pound defensive lineman from Aurora, Ill., registered 107 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, two pass breakups and one forced fumble.

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After revealing that the NCAA has suspended Noah Shannon for the entirety of the 2023 college football season, Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz shared why he is hopeful the NCAA will rethink its decision.

The sixth-year defensive tackle has been wrapped up in the Iowa gambling investigation. Due to his involvement in the gambling probe, Shannon voluntarily opted out of Big Ten media days in mid-July.

Expected to be one of Iowa’s key defensive playmakers up front and one of its leaders, the Hawkeyes are instead faced with the possibility that Shannon’s career in Iowa City may suddenly be over.

As Iowa and Shannon get set to appeal the yearlong suspension, Ferentz made it clear why he has his defensive lineman’s back.

“We definitely are going to appeal that. The department will appeal that. I’m confident Beth will do a great job and the department will do a great job of just reapproaching this with the NCAA. And, my personal feelings again, it’s really hard to, you can’t negotiate game integrity, so if someone bets on our sport, you know, tough to say much beyond that. But after that, I think it really needs to be rethought a little bit. I strongly believe that, and I’m hoping the appeal maybe will reflect some people rethinking things a little bit,” Ferentz said.

Per Ferentz, Shannon allegedly bet on one of Iowa’s other sports teams.

“Yeah, so I know he bet on one of our other sports teams here, and I understand that may be a bad thing. He bet for them, and I’m guessing he got caught up in the emotion. Again, I don’t do this stuff, but it’s on their phones, people are enticing them with apparently three hundred bucks credit if you go with us, all that stuff. I think it’s just time to really recognize the world these guys are living in and maybe be a little bit compassionate towards that,” Ferentz said.

The longtime Hawkeye head coach noted how the rise of sports gambling nationally and in the state of Iowa has made it a different landscape for athletes in 2023.

“We live in a totally different world than we did two years, three years ago and in Noah’s case, he has not committed a crime at all. So, nothing criminal, you know, and I just feel like it’s a little bit harsh. I think it’s punitive me personally, and just I’m hopeful that they’ll reconsider his case. And, I don’t want to say I’m confident, but I would assume at some point they’re going to reshape what they announced back late April and early May in terms of the policy moving forward just because, you know, similar to the drug testing policy, it’s radically different than it was two years ago.

“Our culture’s radically different as a country. So, I’m hopeful that they’ll catch up maybe in their thinking a little bit as it pertains to Noah. Again, I can’t say enough about him. He could commit a lot of other crimes. He hasn’t committed a crime. He could commit crimes and get a lot less of a punishment, which is, seems kind of funny in some ways,” Ferentz said.

One of the frustrating pieces of the situation for Iowa is the reality that the NCAA could make an example out of the Hawkeyes when this type of activity is likely happening in other states with other collegiate athletes as well.

“I can’t imagine we’re the only state where college kids bet. I just can’t imagine that. I mean, seriously. It’s like rounding up 20-year olds that had a beer. So, that would fill Kinnick. I know that,” Ferentz said.

As Iowa remains hopeful that it will get Shannon’s suspension reduced, it has to move forward as though it won’t have Shannon in the meantime. That would mean the loss of 44 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss and two sacks from last season.

With Shannon potentially out of the picture, the Hawkeyes’ top defensive tackles are Logan Lee, Yahya Black and Aaron Graves.

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