Rashard Mendenhall

From NCAA College Football Information & Resource

Rashard Mendenhall

Profile
College	University of Illinois
Position	RB
Jersey No.	5
Class	Junior
Career	2005 – present
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight	224 lb (102 kg)
Nationality	American
B-date	June 19, 1987
B-place	Skokie, IL
High School	Niles West High School
Career Highlights
Awards
2007 Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year (Media & Coaches) 2007 All-Big Ten First Team (Media & Coaches) 2007 Pro Football Weekly First Team 2007 Chicago Tribune's Silver Football Award winner
Championships
none
Bowl Games
2007 Rose Bowl

Rashard Mendenhall (Born Rashard Jamal Mendenhall on June 19, 1987 in Skokie, IL) plays running back for the Illinois Fighting Illini in the NCAA college football tournament. Mendenhall turned out a record-breaking season as a junior, shattering Illinois' single-season records in rushing yards (1,526 which also leads the league) and scoring runs (16). With Mendenhall spearheading the ground attack, Illinois stormed to winning nine of 12 games and helping the Illini place 5th in the nation and first in the Big Ten for the 2nd straight year in rushing offense, reaching the 3,000 yard mark for only the first time in school history. Mendenhall, who received several postseason accolades that include All-Big Ten selection and league Offensive Player of the Year after an explosive junior season, recorded seven 100-yard rushing games which is also a school-record.

1 Personal Life
2 High School
3 College
4 Highlights
5 Achievements
6 References
7 External Links

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Personal Life

Rashard is the son of Walter and Sibyl Mendenhall, currently divorced with his father living in California. His older brother Walter is also an Illini, playing as a running back. They also have a sister named Vanessa who studies in Champaign Central. Rashard is a sport management major at Illinois but would like to pursue a career in graphic design.

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High School

Mendenhall attended Niles West in Skokie, Illinois, where he also lettered in basketball and was a track athlete. He was a three-year All-Central Suburban Conference selection for football and two-time selection for track, named to all-state teams as a junior in both football and track, was an all-area selection for both as a sophomore and an all-area pick for football as a junior. Mendenhall placed 7th in the state 100-meter dash as a sophomore and was named as the Outstanding Performer at the Illinois Prep Top-Times meet the following season.

On the football field, Mendehall played under coach Mark Egofske and recorded 1,300 rushing yards and 21 TDs as a sophomore and registered 1,832 rushing yards and 19 touchdown runs with an 11.6 ypc average as a junior. He verbally committed to Illinois as a junior. During his final year, the PrepStar All-American and Dream Team selection rushed for 1,453 yards and 14 touchdowns on 160 carries to earn SuperPrep All-American honors and named into Rivals Top 100 team. He also finished his high school career with over 1,000 career yards receiving and 13 touchdown catches.

Mendenhall graduated as one of the top-rated prospects in the state and in the nation after being ranked as the no.1 recruit in the state of Illinois and no.24 in the nation by Scout.com, no.17 among national recruits by the Atlanta Journal Constitution, no.1 recruit in the state of Illinois by the Chicago Sun Times. no.4 running back by SuperPrep All-American, and the sixth-highest rated running back in the nation and a five-star prospect by Scout.com. He also made it into the Student Sports Top-100 list of senior prospects, and to SuperPrep's Elite 50 list. Mendenhall went on to play in the 5th Annual U.S. Army All-American Bowl to conclude his stellar high school career.

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College

Several schools showed interest in Mendenhall but his family trimmed the selection to nearby schools and universities that would take both him and his elder brother in. The three final choices were Illinois, Northwestern, and Colorado, going eventually with Illinois. He graduated early in high school to join the rest of the Illini for the 2005 spring practice.

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2005

Mendenhall played in ten of his team's 11 games as a freshman, making his debut in the team's only win that season against San Jose State. He carried 11 times for a season-high 64 yards and had 2 receptions for 16 yards against the Spartans. He scored his first touchdown on a reception against Michigan State and finished the season with two catching scores. He concluded his debut year with 218 rushing yards on 48 carries.

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2006

Mendenhall opened his sophomore year with a 10-carry, 75 rush yard, 2-TD performance against Eastern Illinois in a 42-17 win. In a loss to Syracuse, he caught 2 passes for 78 yards, including a 76-yarder which is tallied as the 11th-longest catch in school history. He established a career-high of 161 rushing yards against Penn State (on 14 carries) in a 12-26 loss before finishing the season with 5 carries for 113 rushing yards and a TD (an 86-yarder which was the longest play from scrimmage of the season and ranked as the 4th longest run in school history). He finished the season with 640 yards on 78 carries for 5 TDs with 12 receptions for 164 receiving yards and a TD. He topped the Big Ten with an 8.2 yards per carry average and placed no.10 in the league in rushing yards per game with 53.3. He also earned CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District honors and was named to the Academic All-Big Ten.

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2007

Mendenhall's record-breaking junior year started with 33 rushing yards on 11 carries for 2 touchdowns along with 3 receptions for a season-long 59 receiving yards in a loss to Missouri. He registered his first 100-yard game of the season the following week with 139 rushing yards and a TD on 23 carries against Western Illinois to reach the 1,000 rush yard mark for his career. On his 3rd game of the season, Mendenhall rushed 16 times for 150 yards and three touchdowns to become the first Illini running back to rush for 3 TDs since 2002. He also set a new career-high in rushing yards the following week, running for 214 and a TD against Indiana to earn a "Helmet Sticker" award from the ESPN College GameDay crew for his performance and a nomination for the AT&T All-America National Player of the Week Award. He tallied his 4th 100-yard game against Wisconsin, recording 160 yards and 2TDs on 19 carries and catching 4 passes for 33 yards and a TD to earn for himself his second "Helmet Sticker" award from the ESPN College GameDay crew and another nomination for the AT&T All-America National Player of the Week Award. He tallied his 5th and 6th 100-yard game against Ball State and Minnesota in back-to-back weeks, running 189 and 2 TDs on a season-high 28 carries against the Cardinals while rushing for 201 and 2 scores against the Gophers. He capped the season with his 7th 100-yard game, rushing for 124 yards and 2 TDs on 27 carries against Northwestern.

Mendenhall finished the regular season ranked #28 in the nation and 5th in the Big Ten in scoring, #17 in the country and 4th in the league in rushing, #33 in the nation and 5th in the conference in all-purpose yards, and no.15 in the league in total offense. He also received Big Ten accolades with the Offensive Player of the Year award and a spot at the All-League team.

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