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Illinois Fighting Illini freshman running back Dre Brown underwent successful surgery on a torn anterior cruciate ligament Tuesday morning.
Successful surgery this morning. Excited for rehab!! All gas no brakes
— Dre Brown (@DreBrown27) May 12, 2015
Brown suffered the injury in April, two days before Illinois' spring game, when he ran about 20 yards downfield, cut to his left untouched and came up gimpy, according to Robert of Illini Board.
Brown was ranked the 14th best player in Illinois and 53rd best running back in the nation by 247sports.com.
Brown ran for 1,728 yards on 8.7 yards per carry last season at DeKalb, Ill., landing him an honorable mention on Chicago Football's all-area team. He led DeKalb to its first winning season in 25 years, a 9-2 season.
The freshman is the second Illinois player to have suffered the injury this spring along with All-American wide receiver Mike Dudek, whose injury occurred just 10 days prior to Brown's.
The Illini went 6-7 in 2014, but made it to a bowl game, a 35-18 loss to Louisana Tech in the Heart of Dallas Bowl, for the first time in Beckman's tenure.
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