ILLINOIS STAR SHANNON FILES SUIT VS. SCHOOL
Illinois star basketball player Terrence Shannon Jr. filed a temporary restraining order Monday against the university in an effort to be reinstated after being suspended indefinitely following a rape charge stemming from an alleged incident that happened when the football team played at Kansas in September.
Attorneys Mark P. Sutter, Rob Lang, Steve Beckett and Mark Goldenberg filed the order in the Sixth Judicial Circuit Court in Champaign, saying the university rushed to judgment and did not follow its protocols.
“All we want for our client is a fair process, and TJ has not received that yet,” they said in a statement.
Illinois Associate Chancellor Robin Kaler said the school will review the lawsuit and defend its disciplinary methods.
“We will review the filing and defend our student-athlete misconduct procedures, which allow us to respond swiftly to allegations of misconduct and serious crimes while affording our studentathletes a fair process and waiting for the legal system and university discipline processes to proceed,” Kaler said.
No. 10 Illinois’ next game is against Michigan State at home on Thursday. The Illini host Maryland on Sunday.
Prosecutors in Douglas County charged Shannon on Dec. 5 with rape or an alternative count of sexual battery.
Tennis
In their first coordinated efforts to cut back on latenight tennis, the women’s and men’s professional tours introduced new scheduling guidelines that include preventing matches from starting after 11 p.m. except with approval and recommending a 6:30 p.m. start for night sessions at tournaments.
The WTA and ATP also
announced that they are conducting what they called “a strategic review” to try to add more consistency to the kinds of tennis balls used starting in 2025, following complaints by players that the week-to-week changes in equipment are problematic and possibly causing more injuries.
• Wimbledon champion
Marketa Vondrousova withdrew from the Adelaide International, citing a right hip injury, five days before the Australian Open starts in Melbourne.
• Sloane Stephens, the 2017 U.S. Open champion, was broken while serving for the match and then lost 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (5) to No. 73-ranked Chinese qualifier Yuan Yue
in the Hobart International.
• An exhibition match between Grand Slam champions Naomi Osaka and
Emma Raducanu was scrapped after two-time Australian Open champion withdrew as a “precautionary measure.”
• In the ATP tournament in Adelaide, Australia’s Jordan Thompson followed up his win over Rafael Nadal
last week with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Facundo Diaz Acosta to move into second-round match against No. 4-seeded
Lorenzo Musetti. Soccer
Cole Palmer missed from
close range and visiting Chelsea lost 1-0 to secondtier Middlesbrough in the first leg of their League Cup semifinal.
• Tottenham signed
Timo Werner on loan from Leipzig, giving the German forward another Premier League shot after his inconsistent stint with Chelsea.
• Liverpool defender
Trent Alexander-Arnold
will be sidelined for three weeks because of a slightly torn knee ligament, the team said.
• Nigeria forward Victor Boniface has been ruled out of the Africa Cup of Nations with a thigh injury. His club Bayer Leverkusen said that the 23-year-old forward will need surgery.
Locally
San Diego State’s swim and dive team defeated Alaska Fairbanks 33-24 in a pentathlon meet at Aztec Aquaplex. With the victory, SDSU raised its record to 12-0 in dual-meet competition this season. SDSU boasted the top seven pentathlon finishers, led by junior Mai McKenna, who took home the individual title.
• The Gulls recalled goaltender Calle Clang and defenseman Luka Profaca from the Tulsa Oilers of the ECHL.