Illini's Dudek says he's back at '150 percent'

Lovie Smith didn't need long to decide whether he was a fan of Illinois wide receiver Mike Dudek.

In fact, he came to that conclusion in his first conversation with the Naperville native.

"Man, I like talking to this guy," Smith said Tuesday at Big Ten Media Days. "He can play. What is there not to like about a guy like that? So glad that he's in our program."

But Smith wouldn't get a chance to see Dudek play until 2017 because of a serious knee injury suffered during spring practice, Dudek's second serious knee injury in two years.

He missed both the 2015 and 2016 seasons, and even missed five games during the 2017 season. Dudek said he wasn't 100 percent entering the 2017 either. But now he's injury free and says playing a full season would mean a lot.

"Last year, I was questioning so many things," Dudek said. "Now I'm 150 percent, and I'm super excited this season. I know the speed of the game, went to all the spring practices. I'm the most excited I've ever been for a season."

Dudek originally drew excitement from Illini fans with an outstanding freshman season in 2014, when he caught 76 passes for 1,038 yards and 6 touchdowns and was named second-team All-Big Ten. But that season was overshadowed by his two serious knee injuries.

Smith confirmed that Dudek is now completely healthy and ready to contribute to a young Illinois offense.

"He'll have an opportunity to be the featured guy," the coach said. "We should see a lot of production from him. Again, he's in excellent shape, and he's going to have an outstanding year."

Dudek said his recovery was a group effort, citing his family, friends and trainers as those who helped him the most.

"At first you have so much anger, and you just question a lot of things," Dudek said. "You just bottle up and keep it to yourself. When I was doing that, I was the most upset. Once I started letting it out, started talking to people, asking for help, it made it a lot easier."

Illinois offensive lineman Nick Allegretti was one of those whom Dudek opened up to. Dudek has lived with Allegretti for four years and is one of only four players left from Illinois' 2014 recruiting class.

If Dudek needed to talk, he would just ask Allegretti or one of his roommates to get ice cream with him.

"I've seen people get demoralized over one injury," Allegretti said. "For him to come back from two injuries like that, especially such a good athlete, that's incredible. It shows a lot about himself."

Now Dudek and the self-proclaimed Four Strong, the last four remaining members of class of 2014 which consists of Dudek, Allegretti, Chase McLaughlin and Austin Roberts, get to lead a team that started 15 true freshmen last year.

Dudek said he's going to lead those young players by example.

"I'm not one to yell at someone," he said. "I'm one to correct someone if they're wrong. I'm not afraid to confront somebody about something, and make sure after that I'm teaching them the right way."

Dudek, who has NFL aspirations, already has his work cut out for him, as Smith said he expects the Illini to show results in his third year as coach. And the Illinois faithful don't have to tell Dudek how long they've been waiting for a competitive team.

"The campus is waiting for us to have a good football team," Dudek said. "When we do, it'll be a really, really, really fun place to be."