Jim O'Donnell: Accused ex-Illini Terrence Shannon Jr. headed for a critical day in court

ONE OF THE MAJOR FOCUSES of sports media is scheduled to peel away Friday morning to a courtroom in Douglas County, Kansas.

That's where the matter of the State of Kansas v Terrence Shannon Jr. is on the docket for a preliminary hearing in front of Judge Sally Pokorny. District attorney Suzanne Valdez and the Lawrence (Kan.) Police Department will try to show probable cause for the felony case to move forward.

Shannon is the now former University of Illinois basketball star who is hoping his road to the NBA takes a major step forward at the draft combine beginning next weekend.

In the Kansas legal system, he's a 23-year-old Chicago native charged with one count of rape and one count of sexual battery.

THE ACCUSATIONS STEM from an incident that did or did not occur shortly after midnight last Sept. 9 in the basement Martini Room of the Jayhawk Cafe, long a popular bar and restaurant at University of Kansas.

Shannon and teammate Justin Harmon had been driven to Lawrence by graduate assistant DyShawn Hobson to watch the KU-Illinois football game Friday night, Sept. 8. (The Jayhawks won 34-23.)

Shannon was due back in Champaign the following morning for a NIL appearance.

(Hobson claims he had been instructed to stay “sober” throughout and text with Illinois assistants Tyler Underwood and Geoff Alexander. The university's athletic department denies any supervisory involvement in the trip.)

AFTER THE GAME the visiting trio met with three friends from the Kansas basketball team — Hunter Dickinson, Kevin McCullar and Elmarko Jackson.

By midnight, the six were at the Jayhawk Cafe. By all accounts, the cafe was packed. The group of players was admitted to the equally crowded downstairs Martini Room.

Shortly after, Shannon was pressed up against the bar with an arm around a young lady. A second young woman — unknown to Shannon and vice versa — was exiting the room with a friend. He waved her over.

IN AN ENCOUNTER that took “approximately 30 seconds,” according to an affidavit filed by Detective Josh Leitner of the Lawrence Police, “The victim … reported she was groped and raped by a male in the Martini Room at the Jayhawk Cafe.”

Shannon allegedly used his free arm to grab the women's derrière and criminally touch underneath her skirt. The accuser claims she quickly broke free.

Multiple security cameras inside the Jayhawk Cafe recorded no assault. There is a two-minute stretch in which both Shannon and the accuser are not in the frame of any security camera.

Shannon's group remained at the bar for an extended period. Around 4:30 a.m., Hobson drove the two Illinois players back to Champaign. Shannon made his NIL appearance as planned.

THE WOMAN PRIVATELY REVIEWED online photos of members of the KU football and basketball teams and then the Illinois basketball team before identifying Shannon as her alleged assailant. She went to the Lawrence Police Saturday afternoon, Sept. 9, to file a report. Later that day, she underwent a sexual assault nurse's examination (SANE) at a hospital.

Shannon and the University of Illinois Department of Intercollegiate Athletics (DIA) were informed of the investigation later in September. From the outset Shannon has vehemently declared his innocence. He has been fully cooperative, according to sources in Lawrence and Champaign, with all aspects of the investigation.

Barring the introduction of new evidence in front of Judge Pokorny, there is no DNA or video corroborating the assault. The friend of the accuser has stated that the assault took place as described.

Hobson, the Illini watchdog, has said he saw nothing.

THE LAWRENCE POLICE did not interview any of the three KU basketball players — Dickinson, McCullar or Jackson — or Harmon or Hobson before an arrest warrant was issued for Shannon on Dec. 27. He returned to Lawrence to be processed the following day, posted a $50,000 bond and was released.

Shannon was immediately suspended from the Illinois team. He and his attorneys filed a motion in U.S. District Court for Central Illinois seeking quick reinstatement.

In a temporary restraining order issued on Jan. 19, Judge Colleen Lawless ruled that Shannon be allowed to play. Lawless cited the presumption of innocence and “irreparable harm” to Shannon and probable loss of income — NIL, NBA and otherwise — as her reasons for the TRO.

The decision also suggested that Shannon has “some likelihood on the merits” to prevail in a criminal trial.

IN THE WAKE OF HIS ARREST, Shannon was suddenly cast on a delicate middle ground. After missing six games, he returned as the basketball team's unquestioned star.

Illinois finished 29-9, won the Big Ten tournament and made the Elite Eight before being eliminated by eventual national champion UConn.

At the same time all media interface with Shannon was suspended. Broadcasters almost universally deleted any mention of the cloud be was playing under. Some fan sections of opponents were not as kind.

JUDGE POKORNY'S COURT SCHEDULE for Friday has three hours blocked for the Shannon hearing. If she finds probably cause and the case moves forward, his NBA prospects spin into a dim netherworld.

He could accept a plea bargain to a reduced count. That's what long ago Bull Quintin Dailey did on rape charges in California days before the 1982 NBA Draft. Dailey was selected No. 7 overall.

The charges could be dismissed. Or a different disposition could be announced.

Shannon has never wavered from his claim of innocence.

The American sports media will be watching.

So will the NBA.

Jim O'Donnell's Sports and Media column appears each week on Sunday and Wednesday. Reach him at jimodonnelldh@yahoo.com. All communications may be considered for publication.