Illinois star basketball player Terrence Shannon Jr. filed a temporary restraining order Monday against the university in an effort to be reinstated after being suspended indefinitely following a rape charge stemming from an alleged incident that happened when the football team played at Kansas in September.
Attorneys Mark P. Sutter, Rob Lang, Steve Beckett and Mark Goldenberg filed the order in the Sixth Judicial Circuit Court in Champaign, saying the university rushed to judgment and did not follow its protocols.
“All we want for our client is a fair process, and TJ has not received that yet,” they said in a statement.
Illinois associate chancellor Robin Kaler said the school will review the lawsuit and defend its disciplinary methods.
“We will review the filing and defend our student-athlete misconduct procedures, which allow us to respond swiftly to allegations of misconduct and serious crimes while affording our student-athletes a fair process and waiting for the legal system and university discipline processes to proceed,” Kaler said.
No. 10 Illinois’ next game is against Michigan State at home on Thursday. The Illini host Maryland on Sunday.
Illinois suspended Shannon on Dec. 28 after he was charged with rape.
The school suspended Shannon from “all team activities, effective immediately,” a day after the Douglas (Kansas) County District Attorney issued a warrant for his arrest. Sutter said at the time Shannon is “innocent.”
Prosecutors in Douglas County charged Shannon on Dec. 5 with rape or an alternative count of sexual battery. The complaint says the accuser was born in 2005.
The rape charge carries a sentence of 12 to 54 years in prison, while the battery charge carries a fine of up to $2,500 and up to a year in jail.
The alleged incident happened when Shannon attended the Illini’s football game at Kansas on Sept. 8. He was not part of the school’s traveling party.
In his second season at Illinois after three years at Texas Tech, Shannon is second in the Big Ten in scoring at 21.7 points per game. Only Purdue’s Zach Edey is averaging more.
