Illinois football star Bobby Roundtree suffers ‘severe spinal injury’

Roundtree earned All-Big Ten team honorable mention last year.

SHARE Illinois football star Bobby Roundtree suffers ‘severe spinal injury’
Illinois lineman Bobby Roundtree tackles a Northwestern ball carrier.

Illinois lineman Bobby Roundtree tackles a Northwestern ball carrier.

AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh

Illinois defensive lineman Bobby Roundtree suffered a “severe spinal injury” in an accident while swimming near his home in Largo, Florida.

The school announced Monday that Roundtree, expected to be one of the Fighting Illini’s top players next year, underwent surgery Sunday night at Surgeons at Mease Countryside Hospital in Safety Harbor. He’s currently in recovery.

“Bobby Roundtree is exactly what you want in a student-athlete,” Illinois head coach Lovie Smith said. “He is a hard worker, dependable, a dedicated student and a leader. This is devastating to his teammates, the entire Fighting Illini family and his family and friends.

“We will give Bobby all the support possible as he battles through his recovery. Please keep Bobby and his family in your thoughts and prayers.”

Smith and several of his teammates joined him at the hospital, per the school.

Roundtree, who just completed his sophomore year, earned All-Big Ten team honorable mention last year. He led the Fighting Illini with 8.5 sacks, 13.5 tackles for loss and seven passes defended, and finished third on the team with 67 tackles overall. He had multiple sacks in three different games.

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