"Neither shocked nor disappointed": Illinois star Terrence Shannon Jr.'s lawyer speaks after case goes to trial

On Friday, a Kansas judge ruled former Illinois guard, Terrence Shannon Jr., to stand trial on June 10 for first-degree felony rape and other charges. Shannon pled not guilty, but the judge concluded that there was enough evidence against the guard for a trial.

One of his legal representatives, Mark Sutter, released a statement after the ruling saying that the preliminary hearing did not affect his guilt or innocence (via ESPN):

"Our legal team is neither shocked nor disappointed by the outcome of this event. A preliminary hearing is a procedural process that merely speaks to the threshold of evidence and whether a question of fact may exist for a jury.

"It has nothing to do with guilt or innocence. Those issues will be decided at trial, and we continue to look forward to our day in court."

Terrence Shannon Jr. played three seasons with the Texas Tech Red Raiders before transferring to Illinois from the 2022-23 season. He averaged 23.0 points with 4.0 rebounds and has declared for the 2024 NBA draft.

What are the charges against Terrence Shannon Jr.?

In December 2023, Terrence Shannon Jr. was accused by a woman of grabbing her and "digitally penetrated her vagina without her consent" on Sept. 9 (per CBS News). Investigators found the woman had googled Kansas basketball and football teams and the Illinois basketball team before identifying Shannon as her attacker.

Court documents also stated that Shannon, accompanied by Illinois graduate assistant DyShawn Hobson and teammate Justin Harmon, went to Lawrence Kansas for a football game between the teams. The incident is alleged to have happened after a Kansas game.

Following his arrest in December, Terrence Shannon Jr. was charged with "unlawfully, feloniously, and knowingly [engaging] in sexual intercourse with a person ... who did not consent to the sexual intercourse under circumstances when she was overcome by force or fear, a severity level 1 person felony."

He was immediately suspended from the team indefinitely. However, after Shannon sued the school, a federal judge reinstated the guard on the grounds that missing games would affect his NIL and future earnings in the NBA. He missed a total of six games.

One of Shannon's sexual battery charges has now been upgraded from sexual battery charge to aggravated sexual battery. His previous first-degree felony rape remains the same.

Before the accusations, Terrence Shannon Jr. was a projected first-round pick.