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| Arrelious Benn is back at full strength after battling a shoulder injury throughout his freshman year. |
Sophomore wide receiver Arrelious Benn will be in the chat room on Thursday at NOON CT. Meanwhile, send in your questions now, and he'll get to as many of them as possible on Thursday.
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| Moderator: Thanks for joining us. The guys are just starting to filter into the Varsity Room for lunch after morning meetings. We'll get started with Arrelious Benn as soon as he gets his tray of food and sits down with us... |
Moderator: Here we go...our first question is from Walter in Mt. Olive.
Walter-Mt.Olive:
Hello,Arrelious!!
The defensive line is a strength of this year's Fighting Illini. What about the strength of the receiving corp?? Will it be improved?? How do you feel about returning kick-offs??
Thank you. Have a great,enjoyable and successful season.
GO ILLINI!! |
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Arrelious Benn: The defensive line is strong--it's always been strong. We have a lot of talented receivers--I think we will be a very strong unit this season--definitely improved. I feel good about returning kickoffs. I did it last year, and I'm glad to do it again this year. |
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| Russ (Oklahoma City): Rejus,
I was in DC this last weekend and what a beautiful city. What's been the hardest thing to get used to about leaving DC for Champaign?
Have a great season and good luck. |
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Arrelious Benn: Nothing, really. Leaving the big city for a place like Champaign--it's slower and you have enough time to yourself to get done what you need to. So the adjustment was fine. |
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| David (Peoria): I remember last year reading about you and Vontae being on "The Dunbar Diet". Is this something you still practice, and can you describe it a little bit? |
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Arrelious Benn: It's a big part of my game. I eat healthy---very little, if any, red meat, fast food or junk food. Doing that will help me achieve my goals, both on the field and off the field. It's just better for my body. |
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| Ronny (Decatur): Who did you room with in camp? Who do you live with throughout the year? |
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| Travis Hughes: What one goal have you set for YOURSELF this season?Also do you have any pre-game rituals? |
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Arrelious Benn: I really don't have any pre-game rituals. I just like to relax. My goal for this season is just to go out and play and have fun. Everything else will take care of itself. |
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| London, England: Rejus - from an Illini on the other side of the world - you have brought a lot of toughness and pride back to the Sleeping Giant - Illinois. Do you prefer a slant with likely contact, where you can punish someone and get off for extra yards, or an out pattern where you can just fly? |
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Arrelious Benn: I prefer the slant, because I like the physical part of the game. |
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| Mitchell (Springfield): When your not dominating on the field or hitting the books in the classroom what do you like to do in your spare time? |
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Arrelious Benn: I like to play video games or just hang with my girlfriend. |
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| Mark (Carbondale): When did you meet Vontae? At what point did you realize he was going to be a special player? |
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Arrelious Benn: I have known Vontae since I was six years old. When we played our first year together at Dunbar High School, I knew he was going to be a very good player. |
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| Kellen (Chicago): What is it about the Dunbar kids that make them so successful? It seems like all surpassed expectations. Is that a testament to Coach Jefferies, or is there more to it? |
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Arrelious Benn: A lot of it has to do with Coach Jeffries, because he had us walk the straight line. |
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| Leslie Millholin (Houston): Who what the toughest player so far (DB) on any opposing team, that you have played against?
(Best Cover guy, hardest hitter, etc.) |
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Arrelious Benn: I haven't run into anyone yet that I would say is the toughest. |
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| Duane (Belleville): What up Regis? What imporvements do you see coming in regards to performance your sophomore year? Will you be returning more kicks/punts? Good luck this season! |
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Arrelious Benn: I just need to go out and execute plays. We will be running a lot of plays designed to get the ball into my hands. It looks like I will get to return both kickoffs and punts this year, but it's hard to say how many. |
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| Denise, Washington DC: How did Camp Rantoul prepare your for the upcoming season? Was it 3 weeks of hell on earth or was it fun? |
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Arrelious Benn: The first two weeks were fun, but this last week was tough. The coaches had to push us through, but we made it. We all know it takes a lot of hard work to get ready for the season. |
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| Moderator: Thanks, for your time Arrelious, and thanks to the fans for sending in the questions...sorry we didn't have time to answer them all...there were a ton. Keep watching fightingillini.com all season long, as we'll have a chat each Wednesday |
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