One of Editor & Publisher’s ‘10 That Do It Right 2021’
Windy. Mostly cloudy skies will become partly cloudy after midnight. Low 28F. Winds WNW at 20 to 30 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph..
Windy. Mostly cloudy skies will become partly cloudy after midnight. Low 28F. Winds WNW at 20 to 30 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.
Updated: March 25, 2022 @ 9:30 pm
College/Prep Sports Reporter
CHAMPAIGN — Keith Randolph Jr. is up 30 pounds from last fall, checking in at 6 feet, 5 inches and 300 pounds heading into his fourth season at Illinois.
Eating the right foods and working extensively with strength and conditioning coach Tank Wright made sure it was good weight the Illini defensive tackle packed on in the offseason.
Randolph is also sporting a new number, making a switch from the No. 88 he’s worn since arriving from Belleville West ahead of the 2019 season to No. 0. Ask Randolph why he’s now wearing No. 0 following an offseason where fellow defensive tackle Johnny Newton also switched from No. 94 to No. 4, and his answer will imply he didn’t have a choice.
“The thing is I heard that all the best-looking players get 0, so I decided it’s only right if I get it,” Randolph joked after Thursday’s second spring practice at Memorial Stadium. “I think coach reached out to Johnny and asked if he wanted to change his number. Johnny was like, ‘OK, that’s cool.’ They said, ‘Keith you don’t have a choice. You’re the best-looking guy on the team. You’ve got to wear 0.’ That’s how it was.”
What hasn’t changed for Randolph is everything else. Literally. He developed a daily routine last spring and has followed it to the letter ever since.
“I have a crazy, crazy routine,” Randolph said. “I do the same thing every day. I almost eat the same thing every day. It’s like clockwork.”
Randolph’s routine before spring practices started always began with an early start. Illinois typically lifted weights at 7 a.m., so that meant a 5:50 a.m. alarm to get to the Smith Center by 6:05 a.m.
Randolph went directly to the hot tub after arriving at the Smith Center to relax a little. Then he hits the cold tub for a full submersion.
“It gets me going,” Randolph said.
Randolph would then lift with his teammates before grabbing breakfast. That’s where he would mix it up a little bit. But just a little. Some days it would be a bagel and a granola bar. Other days it was two granola bars and some Gatorade chews.
Randolph would then take a pre-class nap before getting his required school work out of the way. Dinner was at Noodles & Co., with some variation on the salad and pasta, but always garlic bread to load up on carbohydrates.
Then it was a Pedialyte as a nightcap before going to bed and starting the routine all over again the next morning.
“A full year now,” Randolph said on how long he’s followed that routine. “I don’t plan on changing. Routines are huge. Doing the same thing every day, you get comfortable with it almost. I think it’s helped me a lot. I’m just weird about it almost.”
Randolph credits that routine, which he also followed on the road last fall, for what turned out to be a breakout 2021 season. Randolph played in just four games in 2019, totaling seven tackles and one-half tackle for loss, before redshirting. Eight tackles and one pass breakup in five games followed in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
Last fall was Randolph’s time to shine. He switched from defensive end in former coach Lovie Smith’s 4-3 defense to defensive tackle (and occasional nose guard) under new coordinator Ryan Walters. Randolph made seven starts in 10 games and earned All-Big Ten honorable-mention status after putting up 42 tackles, 51/2 tackles for loss, four sacks, one interception, one pass breakup and one forced fumble. He was the only defensive tackle in the Big Ten with an interception in 2021.
That’s the foundation Randolph is building upon this spring. The success hasn’t changed his approach, per se, but he now has a better understanding of what he’s capable of achieving on the field.
“I’m more confident, honestly,” Randolph said. “Having the year I had last year just makes me want to get better and better. For me, personally, I don’t like watching old film of me last year. We’ve got a whole other season ahead of us. There’s people who have good seasons and then have a drop-off year. That’s nothing I want to do or anyone on the D-line wants to do. We want to keep stacking days.”
Fighting complacency after last year’s success is a significant focus for Randolph this spring. Daily progress is something he said was at the forefront of his mind in the offseason devoted mostly to weightlifting and conditioning and now with spring practices underway.
“Be better than I was last year — that’s in my mindset every day,” Randolph said. “Be better than my last practice. Be a leader. Step into that captain role. Not just for myself, but for my teammates.”
Scott Richey is a reporter covering college basketball at The News-Gazette. His email is srichey@news-gazette.com, and you can follow him on Twitter (@srrichey).
College/Prep Sports Reporter
Scott Richey is a reporter covering college basketball at The News-Gazette. His email is srichey@news-gazette.com, and you can follow him on Twitter (@srrichey).
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