Illinois HC Brad Underwood downplays hostile crowd reactions at Terrence Shannon Jr. in guard's road return: "That's life on the road"

The Northwestern fans had a hostile reaction to the returning Illinois guard, Terrence Shannon Jr., during the team's game on Wednesday evening, in which the Wildcats won 96-91 in overtime.

The booing started during the lineup introduction, and the crowd chanted "No means no!" whenever he touched the ball.

The Illinois player was arrested in December on charges of sexual assault in Kansas and was even suspended by the University of Illinois before being reinstated.

Illinois coach Brad Underwood responded to the hostile environment in his postgame news conference with a curt statement.

"There were? That's life on the road," Underwood said. "... We're playing basketball. We've been in a lot of environments. I had chicken wings thrown at me at Maryland last year. ... That's insignificant."

How Illinois got Terrence Shannon back

The incident happened at a bar in Kansas where Terrence Shannon had gone to watch a football game against the Jayhawks and allegedly groped the victim and sexually assaulted her on the evening of Sept. 8, 2023.

After the Lawrence police issued a warrant of his arrest, Illinois suspended Shannon from Dec. 28 until Jan. 19, when a judge granted his temporary restraining order against the suspension, and he was allowed back into the team.

After the suspension was lifted, his lawyers released a statement on his behalf.

"[Shannon] is grateful for today's ruling and looking forward to playing for the Illini again," the statement said. "[Shannon] is also thankful to his legal team, lead counsel Rob Lang, Steve Beckett, Mark Goldenberg, Zoe Spector, Tom Horscroft, and Mark Sutter."

Robin Kaler, the University of Illinois associate chancellor, released a statement confirming Shannon's reinstatement to the team last week.

"Shannon has been reinstated to full status as a University student-athlete and will be eligible for basketball practice and competition," the statement read.

All eyes were on coach Brad Underwood, who ultimately decides which players play, and before the game against Rutgers on Sunday, he gave his verdict on Terrence Shannon.

“Terrence has been gone for six games, he’s been gone for three weeks, and there’s an integration process that takes place there,” Underwood said. “He has been away from the team. He was allowed to take part in individual workouts, continue his conditioning, continue lifting, … but there’s obviously game shape and play.”

Terrence Shannon scored 16 points from the bench on his return to action against Rutgers, although he only tallied 12 points in the loss to Northwestern.

With Ohio State on the road up next for No. 10 Illinois, Shannon can expect the hostile treatment from opposition fans to continue throughout the season.