Illinois guard Terrence Shannon Jr. was arrested after turning himself in on rape charges and posted bond in Lawrence, Kansas over an incident that allegedly occurred in September.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Write

December 28, 2023

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

Terrence Shannon Jr. has surrendered to authorities after Douglas County district attorney Suzanne Valdez issued a warrant for his arrest on charges of rape.

According to a University of Illinois athletics department media release, Shannon traveled to Lawrence, Kansas Thursday morning to surrender himself to the arrest warrant authorities, has already posted bail and, as of Thursday afternoon was in the process of returning to Champaign.

The alleged incident for which Shannon Jr. has been charged stems from a weekend event where Shannon visited Lawrence to attend the football game as a spectator between Illinois and Kansas where the Jayhawks defeated the Illini 34-23 on the evening of Friday, Sept. 8, as a spectator.

Citing the university’s student-athlete misconduct policy, Shannon Jr. has been immediately suspended indefinitely from all activities regarding the men’s basketball program. According to the policy, “possible discipline, sanctions or corrective actions for student-athlete misconduct include, but are not limited to, the following: warning, reprimand, probation with or without conditions, restitution, personal rehabilitation (e.g., counseling and community service), suspension from athletic activity, suspension from access to any or all DIA services, revocation of part or all of the student-athlete’s scholarship and, if the student-athlete’s conduct is severe or frequent enough, dismissal from the athletic program.”

The released states university officials were made aware of a Lawrence, Kansas police investigation involving Shannon as the suspect since late September but claim that, until Valdez’s office issued the arrest warrant, the university officials “had yet to receive actionable information”.

“The University and DIA have shown time and again that we have zero tolerance for sexual misconduct,” Illinois athletics director Josh Whitman said. “At the same time, DIA policy affords student-athletes appropriate levels of due process based on the nature and severity of the allegations. We will rely on that policy and our prior experiences to manage this situation appropriately for the University and the involved parties.”

IlliniGuys.com has filed a records request through Kansas Open Records Act with the clerks for Kansas’ 7th Judicial District Court for access to the public documents regarding Shannon Jr.’s arrest, charges and other details.

The men’s basketball program was slated to have a local media availability Thursday before the No. 11 Illini prepare to face Fairleigh Dickinson at 8 p.m. the following night but that media availability has been canceled. Whitman will be available to the media on Friday evening before the game at State Farm Center and “will have no further comment on the matter unless there is a change in circumstances that warrants additional communication.”