LeShoure says he's matured

There are people who grow up in large families surrounded by loved ones.

Then there are people like Illinois running back Mikel LeShoure.

“I grew up without my father for about 16, 17 years of my life,” LeShoure said. “It was just me and my mother. I'm an only child, so it was just me and her.”

A lot of times it wasn't even that. The 6-foot, 230-pound LeShoure was born March 30, 1990 at the Dwight Correctional Center in Downstate Illinois, where his mother was serving time for a drug offense. She wasn't released until 1996. His father was incarcerated at the Danville Correctional Center in 1994 for selling drugs and was never much of a factor in Mikel's life.

So LeShoure was raised by an aunt until he was 6. But since then, he and his mother, who has been sober for 15 years, have formed a close bond.

“I learned a lot from that,” he said. “I learned from an early age that I have to be the man of the house and take care of my mother and myself. It taught me a lot of responsibility, and it made me the man I am today.”

That man could be the first running back taken in this year's draft if some of the recent buzz is to be believed. In the eyes of some, LeShoure has overtaken Alabama's Mark Ingram as the top runner in an average group.

Teams looking for a workhorse back who can pound the ball between the tackles will be interested in the chiseled LeShoure. He's bigger and stronger than any of the top backs and piled up a school-record 1,697 rushing yards last season, averaging 6.0 yards on 281 carries. His 40-time of 4.55 isn't blazing, but LeShoure had at least one run of 20 yards or longer in 10 of the Illini's 13 games last season, and he gets positive marks for his soft hands and his physical blocking.

His decision to leave the Illini with a year of eligibility remaining may have been cemented with a late-season 330-yard rushing day against Northwestern, the exclamation point in a career that saw him average a Big Ten-best 6.4 yards per carry in his final two seasons.

“As a running back, the time's running (out),” LeShoure said, noting the burnout/wearout factor for featured runners. “You've got to go when the iron's hot, and I felt like this was the best time for me.”

It didn't start out that way at Illinois for LeShoure, whose spectacular career at nearby Champaign Centennial High School attracted numerous scholarship offers. As a freshman, he missed the final three games after suffering a broken jaw in a fight with a teammate, and the following season he was benched for a game after violating team rules. He says that's all in his rearview mirror.

“I feel like I've grown as a man from my first year to my junior year,” he said. “I made some mistakes earlier in my collegiate career. But if you were to go back and talk to any of the coaches, from the strength and conditioning coach to the head coach about me, they'll tell you that I'm mature for my age and I've learned a lot from my mistakes, and I'm a guy that they can count on, and I'll be there for my team or my coaches.”

That's exactly what Illini coach Ron Zook said back when LeShoure announced his intention to enter the draft.

“I'm extremely proud of how Mikel has matured as a young man and leader for our football team since his arrival at Illinois,” Zook said. “He'll be remembered here as one of the greatest running backs in Illinois football history.

That's pretty select company, considering that just in the past few years the Illini have produced Rashard Mendenhall, who has rushed for 2,381 yards in the last two seasons with the Steelers; and Pierre Thomas, who led the Saints in rushing during their 2009 Super Bowl season.