Illinois loses star wide receiver Dudek

The offseason is the worst time for injuries to happen especially when a team loses one of their star players. During non-contact drills on Wednesday, sophomore wide receiver Mike Dudek tore the ACL in his right knee.

The Illinois football program announced later that day that Dudek would have surgery as soon as possible so the sophomore can quickly start his recovery process.

In a released statement Illinois Coach Tim Beckman said, “This is very disappointing for Mikey, his family, and our football program. He’ll have the knee surgically repaired as soon as possible and the doctors feel like he could return to the field in October.”

Dudek hauled in 76 receptions for 1,038 receiving yards and six touchdowns in 2014.  The Naperville, Illinois native led the Fighting Illini in all of these offensive categories.

Last year, Dudek earned freshman All-America honors from ESPN.com, Scout.com and 247sports.com and was a Second-Team All-Big Ten selection. He also led Illinois to an appearance in the Zaxby’s Heart of Dallas Bowl.

Only time will tell when this star wide receiver will continue his career at Illinois and provide an encore performance to his great freshman season.

 

Written by Charlie Beuttel

Photo credit: writingillini.com; No. 18 Mikey Dudek celebrates a touchdown with his teammates.