Suspended Iowa DL Shannon cleared to practice

Last updated: 2023/10/11 at 7:46 PM

BigP Published October 11, 2023

Adam Rittenberg, ESPN Senior WriterOct 10, 2023, 03:57 PM ET
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- College football reporter.
- Joined ESPN.com in 2008.
- Graduate of Northwestern University.

Iowa senior defensive lineman Noah Shannon, who in August was suspended for the season because of his involvement in an NCAA sports wagering investigation, has been cleared to practice with the team again and could soon be back for games.

Coach Kirk Ferentz said Shannon, who had been working as a student assistant, is back on the roster. Ferentz isn’t sure when a decision will be made on whether Shannon, a 28-game starter, can appear in games for the Hawkeyes.

“At least we’ve got him on the field,” Ferentz told reporters Tuesday. “He’s back on the roster and able to be part of the football team as a player and not just a guy kind of helping out a little bit.”

The NCAA’s Division I Council this month directed the Division I Committee on Student-Athlete Reinstatement and Legislative Committee to reexamine reinstatement for athletes who made wagers but not on their own teams. The Division I Council had responded to a request from conference commissioners to ensure penalties for those who did not wager on their own teams “reflect the current wagering environment.” The Committee on Student-Athlete Reinstatement was set to finalize recommendations by the middle of the month for a vote by the end of October. They considered a penalty structure that would remove loss of competition for the first offense, regardless of the dollar value in the wager, and only consider the loss of a season of eligibility for the third offense.

Shannon in July disclosed his involvement in an NCAA investigation into athlete wagering and, according to Ferentz, wagered on at least one Iowa event outside of football. He has not been criminally charged in the state’s investigation into college athlete wagering.

Iowa appealed Shannon’s initial suspension in August, but was denied in September. Shannon’s college career was believed to be over until the recent practice reinstatement.

“He was working through an injury anyway, so he probably couldn’t have played psychically until a couple weeks ago,” Ferentz said Tuesday. “Hasn’t been in pads in quite a while, so we’ll just see. I don’t even know when the decision is going to be made, so at least we’ll have ample time to get him ready, hopefully.”

Shannon earned honorable mention All-Big Ten honors in 2022, when he recorded two sacks, 8.5 tackles for loss and 44 tackles. He also earned honorable mention All-Big Ten in 2021.

Iowa next plays Saturday at Wisconsin.