The Illini swept their week’s slate pretty easily, but that was overshadowed by the fact that not only did Terrence Shannon Jr. return to action less than a month after a rape charge, but he got a standing ovation for it, too.
A quick reference for those not familiar with this case: Illinois star guard Terrence Shannon Jr. was charged with rape in Lawrence, Kansas, and was arrested on December 27, 22 days after a warrant was filed for his arrest for an incident on the 9th of September, 2023. Shannon Jr. was immediately suspended but filed for an injunction on January 8 in order to get out of his suspension. His January 12 hearing ended up with a deferred ruling from the judge. On January 19, the injunction was granted, on the basis of the ongoing suspension harming Shannon Jr.’s reputation and basketball career. On January 21, Shannon Jr. checked into the game to a standing ovation, taking the court for the first time since December 22. A court hearing has not happened yet, and the preliminary hearing is set for February 23.
Keep in mind, TSJ’s reappearance on the basketball court is not due to him being exonerated. He has not been proven to be guilty, nor found to be innocent. It’s purely due to his claim that his suspension for being charged with rape could hurt his reputation. When Brad Underwood decided to put TSJ in the game, and a large portion of the Illinois fanbase decided to stand up and cheer that decision on, it represented a complete moral decay and a mishandling of the situation to the extreme. These fans were not standing up and cheering for a player who hit a game-winning shot in front of the home crowd or represented the university by giving back to the people of Urbana-Champaign. The ovation was for a player who is currently waiting for his court date for a rape charge, and just so happens to be playing basketball in the meantime.
It wasn’t the entire crowd that participated in welcoming back the accused to the court,but the vocal fans were able to create enough noise to overshadow any silence from fans disgusted by the insertion of Shannon into the lineup.
Silence can’t be measured in decibels, but the silence from Underwood and the athletic department was deafening. There was nothing keeping the coaching staff from stashing Shannon Jr. on the bench until his legal issues were dealt with. But, Underwood and company were so focused on the “could” that they didn’t bother considering the “should”. Per the judge’s injunction (not exoneration) ruling, could Shannon Jr. play basketball? Yes, absolutely. Should he? Absolutely not, at least not until the legal process was finalized. The moment he could take the court, he was allowed to, at least as far as the public knows.
That’s another piece of the puzzle. I don’t know what conversations went on behind closed doors between the athletic department staff, Shannon Jr., and Underwood. I, just like every public observer, do not know what actually occurred in Lawrence on September 9 of last year. That means that no one in that stands standing up and cheering for Shannon Jr. knows if he is guilty or innocent, either. Yes, false accusations exist. They can be very destructive toward an individual and can ruin careers. That is true. But there has been no evidence of anything about this case being falsified. There has been no reason to think that Shannon Jr. is automatically exonerated of his alleged crimes, whether legally or socially. Why is it that a large portion of the Illini fans at the game against Rutgers immediately came to Shannon Jr.’s defense? Because he can play basketball at a high level.
Think of how short-sighted that line of thought is. That the outcome of this case and public opinion is purely decided by which one of the defendants or plaintiffs can score on Zach Edey. That because Shannon Jr. is really good at shooting a basketball, he must be free of all wrongdoing. That, according to Illini fans on Twitter, people upset by Shannon Jr. playing “didn’t research this case at all,” or that criticism of the situation is just “hating on a kid for playing a sport.” Those are real, actual Tweets, and they beg a question. Do these fans supporting Shannon Jr. unequivocally believe in his innocence through knowing him personally off the court, or are these defenses of his character solely based on his basketball ability?
Really, it’s indicative of a larger issue within college athletics, which is coaches and athletic departments disregarding the proper plan of action when it comes to players’ legal issues as long as that player has even a chance of making an impact on the court. We saw it happen with Brandon Miller last year at Alabama following the shooting death of Jamea Harris. We saw it happen with Chris Beard and Bill Self “taking a chance” with Arterio Morris after documented cases of assault while he was a recruit, which then led to a charge of rape on campus before Morris even took the court for Kansas. We saw it happen with Dior Johnson remaining on Pitt’s roster following a guilty plea for assault and strangulation. We saw it with Doctor Bradley, who found a home at Nicholls even after information was made public regarding his hazing and sexual assault of a teammate at New Mexico State. We saw it this year with Pop Isaacs, who continues to play for Texas Tech even after being named in a lawsuit claiming he assaulted a minor while in The Bahamas on a team trip in 2023.
This isn’t a problem unique to college basketball. The NBA has faced criticism for continuing to platform Miles Bridges after he was charged in July 2022 with felony injury of a child’s parent and two felony charges of child abuse, strangling his children’s mother in front of them and giving her a concussion and neck strain, and breaking her nose. In October of 2023, Bridges threw billiard balls at his former partner while his children were in the car with her. On January 20, a day before Terrence Shannon Jr. checked in against Rutgers, Bridges scored 25 points and tallied 11 rebounds against the 76ers.
One of my Twitter mutuals, Celtics beat reporter Noa Dalzell, wrote a piece last September on the need for the NBA to change the way it deals with domestic violence. You can find it here. It’s not just Bridges mentioned in that article. It’s Kevin Porter Jr. and Jaxson Hayes as well. Because this is not a localized issue. It happens in the MLB. It happens in the NFL. It happens in the WNBA. Although it is more publicized and more common in men’s sports due to the public interest and volume of players, it’s not a gender-exclusive issue. Riquna Williams was suspended for 10 games in 2019 for striking her partner in the head before aiming a gun at another man. Allowed to continue playing, Williams was arrested again in August of last year for nine charges, including but not limited to domestic battery by strangulation and assault with a weapon. When Ray Rice was suspended indefinitely by the NFL following his assault of his partner, that was supposed to be the precedent for those instances. Now, it’s become the exception.
And, disturbingly, it’s not just the players. College basketball programs are increasingly disregarding proper vetting when it comes to coaches. Chris Beard, who bit, choked, and struck his fiancée, according to a police report, was given the job at Ole Miss just over three months after being arrested on a third-degree felony charge of assault against a family member for strangulation. Now being floated as a possible candidate for the presumed Louisville opening, it’s reprehensible that Beard is on the forefront of essentially receiving zero punishment for his actions.
The NCAA seems all-powerful when it comes to continuing to crack down on eligibility for two-time transfers, but is seemingly powerless when it comes to enforcing suspensions against players and coaches actually charged with violent crimes, while the NBA and NFL sideline players for years at a time for becoming addicted to drugs while players like Bridges, Hayes, Richie Incognito, and Antonio Brown were and are given opportunities to make millions on the court and field.
Remember when the biggest scandal in basketball was Grayson Allen’s attack of affluenza? I never thought I’d be saying this, but can we have that back? Does it concern anyone else that we’re moving backward as a sport when it comes to properly disciplining players and coaches charged with violent crimes? The Terrence Shannon Jr. fiasco is disappointing, sure, but it was all too predictable, just the latest incident in a worrisome trend of irresponsible administrative decisions. As the stakes get higher, the bar just falls lower and lower.
[…] The Illini swept their week’s slate pretty easily, but that was overshadowed by the fact that not only did Terrence Shannon Jr. return to action less than a month after a sexual assault charge, but he got a standing ovation for it, too. You can read my thoughts on the issue here. […]
[…] The Illini swept their week’s slate pretty easily, but that was overshadowed by the fact that not only did Terrence Shannon Jr. return to action less than a month after a sexual assault charge, but he got a standing ovation for it, too. You can read my thoughts on the issue here. […]