One of Editor & Publisher\u2019s \u201810 That Do It Right 2021\u2019
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.
<\/i> Updated: March 25, 2022 @ 9:30 pm<\/small><\/p>\n
College\/Prep Sports Reporter
CHAMPAIGN \u2014 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\u2019s worn since arriving from Belleville West ahead of the 2019 season to No. 0. Ask Randolph why he\u2019s 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\u2019t have a choice.
\u201cThe thing is I heard that all the best-looking players get 0, so I decided it\u2019s only right if I get it,\u201d Randolph joked after Thursday\u2019s second spring practice at Memorial Stadium. \u201cI think coach reached out to Johnny and asked if he wanted to change his number. Johnny was like, \u2018OK, that\u2019s cool.\u2019 They said, \u2018Keith you don\u2019t have a choice. You\u2019re the best-looking guy on the team. You\u2019ve got to wear 0.\u2019 That\u2019s how it was.\u201d
What hasn\u2019t changed for Randolph is everything else. Literally. He developed a daily routine last spring and has followed it to the letter ever since.
\u201cI have a crazy, crazy routine,\u201d Randolph said. \u201cI do the same thing every day. I almost eat the same thing every day. It\u2019s like clockwork.\u201d
Randolph\u2019s 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.
\u201cIt gets me going,\u201d Randolph said.
Randolph would then lift with his teammates before grabbing breakfast. That\u2019s 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.
\u201cA full year now,\u201d Randolph said on how long he\u2019s followed that routine. \u201cI don\u2019t plan on changing. Routines are huge. Doing the same thing every day, you get comfortable with it almost. I think it\u2019s helped me a lot. I\u2019m just weird about it almost.\u201d
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\u2019s time to shine. He switched from defensive end in former coach Lovie Smith\u2019s 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\u2019s the foundation Randolph is building upon this spring. The success hasn\u2019t changed his approach, per se, but he now has a better understanding of what he\u2019s capable of achieving on the field.
\u201cI\u2019m more confident, honestly,\u201d Randolph said. \u201cHaving the year I had last year just makes me want to get better and better. For me, personally, I don\u2019t like watching old film of me last year. We\u2019ve got a whole other season ahead of us. There\u2019s people who have good seasons and then have a drop-off year. That\u2019s nothing I want to do or anyone on the D-line wants to do. We want to keep stacking days.\u201d
Fighting complacency after last year\u2019s 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.
\u201cBe better than I was last year \u2014 that\u2019s in my mindset every day,\u201d Randolph said. \u201cBe better than my last practice. Be a leader. Step into that captain role. Not just for myself, but for my teammates.\u201d
Scott Richey is a reporter covering college basketball at The News-Gazette. His email is srichey@news-gazette.com<\/a>, 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).
To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version or update your Flash plugin<\/a>.<\/p>\n