Illinois basketball’s Terrence Shannon Jr. searching for hundreds of thousands in lawsuit for ‘malicious prosecution’

Minnesota Timberwolves guard and former Illinois basketball star Terrence Shannon Jr. was discovered not responsible of felony rape and aggravated sexual assault in June after being arrested in December following an incident at a bar in Kansas in September.

Now, Shannon Jr. and his mom have filed a declare towards the Douglas County District Lawyer, Lawrence Police Division and a detective in Kansas for malicious prosecution and different claims, in keeping with WCIA. In line with their lawyer, they’re searching for “hundreds of thousands of {dollars}” in damages.

After Shannon Jr. was arrested, he was suspended by Illinois and missed six video games earlier than being allowed to return after he retained a brief restraining order.

It’s not clear what number of potential NIL alternatives Shannon Jr. misplaced as a consequence of his false conviction or how far he could have slipped within the NBA Draft as a consequence of groups’ preconceived notions of him regardless of his not responsible verdict. Whereas it’s not recognized but how a lot precisely Shannon Jr. and his mom are searching for on this lawsuit, they may very well be in line for fairly the payout.

Terrance Shannon’s tumultuous 2023-24 season with Illinois basketball

Following a season that noticed him get booed in every single place he performed had his character continually referred to as into query, Shannon Jr. seemingly fell within the draft as a consequence of issues relating to his private life and potential authorized standing.

At 6-6 and with plus-athleticism and elite two-way skills, Shannon Jr. was the most effective gamers in faculty basketball final season regardless of his authorized state of affairs. Averaging 23.0 factors, 4.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.0 steals and 0.9 blocks per recreation whereas taking pictures 36.2% from three, Shannon Jr. led Illinois to a Large 10 title and an Elite Eight look within the NCAA Event. Shannon Jr. was additionally named the Large 10 Event Most Excellent Participant, First-team All-Large 10 and Third-team All-American.

After he acquired the not responsible verdict in June, Shannon Jr. instantly shot up draft boards earlier than being chosen with the twenty seventh total choose by the Timberwolves. The previous Preventing Illini star had a wonderful Summer season League for the Timberwolves, scoring 13.3 factors per recreation and taking pictures an environment friendly 56.3% from the sector in 23.2 minutes per recreation. He’s anticipated to have the ability to contribute instantly to the Timberwolves and supply a scoring punch off the bench.

This has been a drawn-out and unlucky state of affairs for all events concerned. Hopefully this may be the tip of this saga and Shannon Jr. can lastly start his NBA profession with out some other off-court distractions.