Iowa football’s Noah Shannon will not return this season

IOWA CITY — Iowa defensive lineman Noah Shannon had hoped his NCAA suspension would be lifted Wednesday. Instead, he learned that he will not regain his eligibility this season.

Shannon has not played this season due to a suspension for his involvement in the NCAA’s investigation into sports wagering. After months of twists and turns, there is finally a resolution for Iowa and Shannon, and it's not what he or the Hawkeyes had hoped for.

The NCAA had signaled in recent weeks that it might eliminate suspensions for athletes who wagered on games involving their school, as long as an athlete did not bet on his or her own team. But on Wednesday, the NCAA went a different route.

From an NCAA news release: "Effective immediately, reinstatement guidelines for student-athletes who wager on teams at their school — excluding their own team — will start at requiring one season of ineligibility and a loss of one year of eligibility. Student-athletes will also be required to participate in sports wagering rules and prevention education as a condition of reinstatement. Previous guidelines, as approved in June, prescribed permanent ineligibility for those cases. The adjusted guidelines may be applied to cases in which student-athletes are currently serving suspensions related to wagering on a different team at their own school that were reported on or after May 2, 2023."

Shannon faced permanent banishment from the NCAA under the former guidelines, for reportedly betting on an Iowa women's basketball game. The new guidelines don't do him any good, either. His one-year ban effectively ends his career.

Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz commented on the NCAA's decision Wednesday night during his radio show:

“The humanistic part of it is probably the most disturbing," Ferentz said. "My takeaway on this whole thing is I’ve long thought the NCAA is just a very big, cumbersome organization that really has a hard time reacting to anything in real time. … And that's really evident in our sport.

“Our world has changed so much, and I don't think they're taking that into account. He didn't commit a crime, didn't bet on an Iowa football game. Punishment, yes. And he’s been very straightforward with his remarks (and) very cooperative with everybody that spoke with him. I don't know what else you can do. It just seems like it's really a very dramatic penalty for something that I'll predict two years from now, it's going to be looked at (as) not that big a deal. Well, let me rephrase that. Two years? Maybe five with this organization.

“It's history now. And we'll move forward, and Noah will move forward. He’s a great young guy. He is still part of our team. I have such a great respect for him. He's a really good football player, but more importantly, he's a great kid and he's done everything he could to get back and ready. My first thoughts are with him and his family, it’s just very disappointing. But life goes on. It won't be the first bucket of crap he's got to deal with.”

After the radio show, Ferentz unleashed an even more biting statement toward the NCAA, through the UI.

“I am heartbroken for Noah (Shannon) and his family that the NCAA has come to this conclusion. Noah did not break any laws. He did not commit any crimes. And yet he is being severely over-punished by a membership committee that refuses to see perspective or use common sense," Ferentz said. "I have said many times that I think it is peculiar that the state of Iowa is uniquely the focus of this investigation. Noah is being sidelined because the NCAA is ruling on an investigation that they did not instigate, using an uneven system of justice to severely punish an excellent young man. It is just wrong.”

Public confirmation that Shannon was involved in the NCAA’s investigation into sports wagering first came this summer. Shannon was supposed to be one of Iowa’s representatives at Big Ten Media Days in Indianapolis. But he was replaced due to his involvement in the sports wagering investigation. 

In August, Ferentz revealed that Shannon was suspended for this entire season due to his involvement. An appeal was later denied.

Shannon, who has been a member of the Iowa program since 2018, had been a key part of Iowa’s defense the last two seasons prior to 2023.

Shannon remained involved in the program even after his suspension, moving into a role as a student assistant on the coaching staff. But last month, he was cleared to practice with the team.

Frustration from inside the Iowa program was more about the severity of the suspension rather than the suspension itself. If Shannon had to sit out five or six games, it wouldn’t be ideal, but at least provided him a path to get back on the field. Instead, the full-season suspension seemed to shut the door on any chance of playing for the Hawkeyes again. And Wednesday's news confirmed it.

“To watch him walk around feeling like he's done something wrong, which I understand, he understands, he broke a rule,” Ferentz said this season. “But I mean, (is) that worth capital punishment? It's silly. That's been the hardest thing for all of us.”