In April 2015, IL football’s wide receiver Mike Dudek tore his anterior cruciate ligament and was projected to play in October 2015.
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Dudek had been held out of practice after hurting his knee during a scrimmage.
The loss of Dudek is a tough one for the IL offense, which should take on a new look this season with a new coaching staff including Garrick McGee as offensive coordinator. Friday, Lovie Smith announced Dudek has torn that same ACL and will miss the 2016 season.
Dudek will have surgery next week after tearing the ACL last Saturday in a non-contact drill, Smith said.
Dudek was a 2014 freshman All-American and second-team All-Big Ten selection by the media.
Dudek, a Neuqua Valley alumnus, broke school freshman records in 2014 with 76 catches for 1,038 yards, totals that rank fifth and seventh on the overall Illini single-season lists. He won’t get a chance to make his 77th catch for the Illini until 2017. Instead, he missed the entire season. And that’s what we’re expecting from him…. Just working so hard to get back, and then two days in, that stuff happens.
“I feel for Mikey”, Lunt said. “He was pretty excited about this season”.
“The game can sometimes be cruel”, Smith said. You can tell he’s a great competitor, great guy, liked by his teammates. “Everyone is feeling for him, but they know him too and it’s not like he’s feeling sorry for himself”.
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Junior from Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin arrived at UI with Dudek, but inconsistency has plagued him at times. “He knows the routine and he’ll be back”.
