University of Illinois senior linebacker Trulon Henry was injured in a off-campus shooting early Sunday morning in Urbana. Henry, a two-year starter for the Illini (he moved from safety to linebacker this year) was shot in the hand and underwent surgery.
He will miss the remainder of the regular season, and his status for a possible bowl appearance is unknown. The Illini have six wins; and are currently bowl eligible. However, the Big Ten has 8 bowl eligible teams, and could end up with 10, so where Illinois lands is truly up in the air.
Henry, who was not originally at the party, was called by a teammate to help encourage players at the party to leave. Unfortunately, Henry was one of the three people shot.
Henry is ninth on the team with 39 tackles and is tied for the team lead with two interceptions. He had a likely pick six yesterday versus the Wolverines yesterday; but dropped it.
His loss will no doubt be felt down the stretch for the Illini who came into the meeting with Michigan ranked sixth in total defense, 15th against the run. It doesn’t get any easier for the Illini this Saturday when they take on the Wisconsin Badgers’ high octane offense.
More details should likely emerge later from the Urbana Police Department.
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