Terrence Shannon Jr. returned to Illinois’ rotation Sunday less than a month after being charged with rape. His legal issues remain unresolved. Regardless, the 6-foot-6 wing received a rousing ovation upon entering the game, played 28 minutes, scored 16 points and helped Illinois to an 86-63 victory. The fact that Shannon led his teammates out of the tunnel and onto the court suggests Illinois is going to be brazen about being the only power-conference program to let a man facing a rape charge represent it in such a public way.
“Our team feels whole again,” said Justin Harmon, who finished with 18 points and eight rebounds Sunday for Illinois, which is No. 21 in Monday morning’s updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings. “We have our best player back.”
Undeniably, that’s true.
But should they?
That’s the question that will continue to be asked by most. What some Illinois fans will tell you is that Illinois simply had no choice but to play Shannon on Sunday after a federal judge granted a judgment in his favor on Friday.
Respectfully, that doesn’t appear to be true.
Did the judgment put Illinois in a position where it had to reinstate Shannon to the program or risk facing legal consequences? Yes. But no federal judge is in charge of a coach’s rotation. College coaches have historically refused to play players for any number of reasons — for everything from committing crimes to taking bad shots or not diving for loose balls. It’s totally up to the coach who plays and who doesn’t. So the idea that Illinois had no choice but to play Shannon 28 minutes Sunday is nonsense. Coach Brad Underwood is in charge of who plays at Illinois and who doesn’t. So Terrence Shannon only played 28 minutes under these circumstances on Sunday because Brad Underwood allowed him to do it
Underwood can rationalize that however he likes.
But that’s what he did.
So now, for the second straight year, one of college basketball’s best teams will move forward with a cloud of controversy hanging above it. Last season, it was Brandon Miller and Alabama. This season, it’s Terrence Shannon and Illinois.
The Illini’s next game is Wednesday at Northwestern.
Shannon’s preliminary hearing is Feb. 23.