A Kansas jury found former Illinois basketball star Terrence Shannon Jr. not guilty of felony rape and aggravated sexual assault Thursday after a weeklong trial.
Shannon was arrested in December for an alleged September incident at a bar in Lawrence, Kansas, after a woman alleged he pulled her toward him and penetrated her vagina with his fingers shortly after they met.
Shannon consistently denied the allegations, and his defense witnesses during the trial said they never saw Shannon approach a woman in the manner described by police. After the alleged incident, the woman found Shannon's photo in a Google search and then went to police.
“We're happy with the outcome,” said Mark Sutter, one of Shannon's attorneys. “Terrence Shannon Jr. finally had his day in court. We denied the allegations in September and on that date, we promised that one day soon we would have our day in court and we did. And we are happy with the outcome. And, at the end of the day day, I think the general public owes Shannon Jr. an apology.”
After his arrest, Shannon was suspended by Illinois, which launched its own investigation. He missed six games before retaining a temporary restraining order and returning to the court. He then led the team to the NCAA tournament. The school later abandoned its investigation, citing a lack of evidence.
“I'm excited for Terrence with the news of today's verdict,” Illinois coach Brad Underwood said. “Under six months of intense scrutiny, Terrence has demonstrated tremendous composure, maturity and focus. He can now put this behind him and move on with his life. I, along with everyone in our Illinois basketball program, will continue to offer Terrence our all. support as he seeks to fulfill his dreams in the NBA.”
Illinois athletic director Josh Whitman echoed that sentiment, saying the verdict was “a tremendous sigh of relief” for him and others close to Shannon.
“This has been a very serious and unfortunate situation for all parties involved, and I am happy for Terrence that it has been resolved and his name has been cleared,” Whitman said. “We look forward to cheering him on as he begins his NBA journey.”
Before his arrest, Shannon was a projected top 25 pick in the upcoming NBA draft. He will attend multiple workouts with professional teams starting Friday, according to his attorney, as he continues to prepare for the draft.
Last week, his attorneys filed a motion to use video evidence to support the possibility of a mistaken identity case. But Shannon relied on character witnesses and other people who were at the bar that night, including Kansas players Hunter Dickinson and Kevin McCullar Jr. He also testified in his own defense when he took the stand Thursday.
In their closing statements, his lawyers claimed that no evidence of Shannon's DNA was found on the woman's body after she was examined at a local hospital that night, and also criticized the investigation that pointed to him as the suspect in the case.
“He's a good guy and we had a lot of very good character witnesses in addition to the investigation and challenging all the evidence, or lack thereof,” Sutter said. “It was a good turnout for him.”
ESPN's Jeff Borzello contributed to this report.
