Glad this was released...I was under the impression the decision to play Shannon still falls on Brad, which is what Parrish is up in arms about. I didn't think it was necessarily outlandish if Brad were to decide to sit Shannon considering the charge (formal or not) exists..but this appears to clear that up. I'm really good at being wrong sometimes!
I didn't think there was ever any possible way TSJ could be benched without Illinois getting hit with a massive lawsuit for purposefully attempting to bypass the intention of the Federal judge's ruling, which TSJ would almost certainly win. Basically, the school would either be defying the ruling, or illegally retaliating against TSJ, take your pick.
I know idiots like Parrish think that playing time in this case is a coach's decision, because of course it is in most normal circumstances, but when you have a court order saying the school basically cannot punish TSJ through withholding him from basketball as it infringes on his rights of due process and his ability to make money and support his family along with his future earning potential, you would have to firmly justify to the courts why there would be any changes whatsoever to the status he had prior to being suspended.
I'm glad the U of I made this announcement to explain to every talking head like Parrish what they're saying is completely nonsensical and would certainly be illegal. Just because you're morally or ethically outraged over a court ruling, doesn't give you rights to defy or circumvent it. It it did, there'd be a lot of guilty people walking free and a lot of innocent people extrajudicially killed or imprisoned.