Acquittal in court case before Timberwolves drafted Terrence Shannon Jr.

During his tenure as Timberwolves president Tim Conley, his desire has been to acquire players who have good character and fit into the locker room and the organization as a whole.

On Wednesday night, Conley drafted Illinois wing Terrence Shannon Jr., who earlier this month was found not guilty of rape and aggravated sexual assault stemming from an incident at a Kansas bar in September.

After his arrest and Illinois suspending him, Shannon sued and won the right to continue playing until the legal process was completed. He was the Illini’s leading scorer and became third-team All-America while leading the Illini to the Big Ten Tournament title at the Target Center in March.

But despite last year’s legal battle, Connelly had no problem choosing Shannon. After the selection, Connelly made a strong statement in support of Shannon’s character.

Connelly said, “It’s a shame that this is even a footnote (on his career).” “It’s a shame to say that he was acquitted – if you really dig, it’s a really unfortunate thing to happen to a kid who is by all accounts… a great kid.

“Often, as soon as you’re accused, you’re found guilty. Thankfully he went through the legal process. He decided to go to trial because he knew he did nothing wrong. I think That it’s a shame he had to go through that and I think it’s a testament to how he is as a kid and his ability to play through really tough distractions.”

Conley said the team did “a lot” of work on Shannon’s background and the case, which came to light as follows:

Shannon went to Lawrence, Kansas, to watch the Illini football team play against Kansas on September 8 and took a tour there. The woman alleged that Shannon pulled her towards him and touched her inappropriately in a private area. Later that month, Illinois said it became aware of the investigation into an alleged incident involving Shannon. An arrest warrant was not issued for Shannon until December 27. Throughout the process, Shannon, through his lawyer, denied all the allegations and said that he would win in court.

Illinois suspended Shannon, but he sued and was granted the right to continue playing. He became one of the best players in the country and led the Illini to a second-place Big Ten regular season finish and a Big Ten Tournament title at Target Center.

Shannon, testifying at his trial earlier this month, said the woman mistook him for someone else and never saw him again until the legal process began. The woman found Shannon on the online team roster and told authorities he was the one who raped her.

After examining the woman that night, no DNA evidence of Shannon was found. Shannon testified from witnesses at the bar as well as character witnesses on his own behalf. The defense team was allowed to present video evidence to show that another person at the bar who was close to the woman at the time could have been the person who committed the act.

Once the jury found Shannon not guilty, Illinois officials, including coach Brad Underwood and athletic director Josh Whitman, released statements full of praise for Shannon.

“This has been a very serious and unfortunate situation for all parties involved, and I’m 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.”

At Illinois, Shannon is set to hang up his jersey after this season. Shannon’s All-America third-team status under program guidelines did not meet the requirements to elevate his jersey, but Whitman and the school made an exception, given the fact that his pending litigation had affected his standing with voters. Standing was affected.

“We all understand that, now, there were factors beyond their control that prevented those votes from getting to where they needed to be to meet the criteria,” Whitman told reporters earlier this month. “And we are pleased to make an exception in this case to recognize one of the greatest players our program has ever seen.”