I remember sitting up in bed folded into the corner of my room in the last apartment I’d rent in Champaign for my final semester in college. I was plugged into the football recruiting scene and heard rumors that Regis Benn was going to spurn all the blue-blood offers he garnered for being the top wide receiver prospect in the country and was going to pick Ron Zook and the Fighting Illini.
I found a live feed to the ESPN Zone in Washington, D.C., where Benn’s college announcement was to take place. And despite all the positive buzz, I just couldn’t believe it.