Monday saw Illinois Fighting Illini leading scorer and All-American candidate Terrence Shannon Jr. file a temporary restraining order against the University of Illinois Board of trustees.
The 28-page-filing, in Champaign County court, would potentially allow the indefinitely suspended basketball star to return to play immediately.
If the order is granted of course. Shannon is suspended from the team due to his having been charged with the crime of rape in the state of Kansas. The charges stem from an incident that occurred back in September.
The document filed today describes the latest legal action taken as: “a temporary restraining order, preliminary injunction and/or expedited discovery.”
It’s a risky move to say the least, as it could potentially create some bad blood between TJ and the University, who have shown some measure of goodwill thus far. This could take an already complicated situation, and turn it much uglier.
It certainly puts both head coach Brad Underwood and Athletic Director Josh Whitman in a very tough spot, potentially.
“TJ has consistently maintained his innocence. All we want is a fair process and we haven’t gotten one yet,” said a member of the legal team representing Terrence Shannon Jr., Mark Goldenberg, told the Champaign News-Gazette today.
“TJ has already missed three games, and therefore immediate relief is necessary.”
Goldenberg describes himself as a hard core sports fan who loves the Illinois Fighting Illini. He represented former Illini assistant coaches Jimmy Collins and Richard Nagy during the Deon Thomas and LaPhonso Ellis NCAA investigations.
The next court date for Shannon is January 18. His legal team believes that they have not been granted due process, and they also take issue with the accused’s not having any access to the three person University tribunal that could ultimately determine his fate.
Rape is a very serious crime, and many, if not most cases come with a lot of grey area involved. Remember this as we learn more about this case, over the coming weeks and months.
Most of the time, you are not going to have cut-and-dry, black or white, obvious plain truths and simple facts. It usually gets murky and confusing and conflicting.
We were already at that point, and now those grey areas and completely charcoal. It’s a risky move by TSJ, but given how this case has already severely damaged his NBA Draft stock, I can see why he and his legal team are throwing a legal Hail Mary like this.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He’s written for numerous publications, including the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. He regularly appears on NTD News and WGN News Now, while writing for the International Baseball Writers Association of America. You can follow the website on Twitter.