Determination helped Carroll Phillips become breakout star for Illinois

It took Carroll Phillips a while, really until his senior season at Illinois, to experience the kind of success he always expected from himself.

But Phillips kept working toward this moment because he knew what the opposite path held. Now here he is, a breakout star in an otherwise dismal season for the Fighting Illini. Hardly anybody outside Champaign knew who he was in the preseason, and with two games left, the defensive end ranks fourth in the FBS in tackles for loss (17) and is tied for the Big Ten lead in sacks (eight).

“I am pretty determined,” he said.

Phillips had to be. He grew up in the rough Liberty City neighborhood of Miami. When he was in junior high, his mother and stepfather…