Overview
Outstanding defensive end prospect joining the Wolves for his third season of collegiate football ... Played last season at Pearl River Community College in the talent hotbed of Mississippi ... ranked as the #40 junior college player in the nation by ESPN.com ... regarded as a 3-star recruit according to Rivals and Scout ...
2012 - RS Freshman
Played in all 12 games, totaling 17 tackles, 5.0 TFLs, 2.5 sacks, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery on the season ... Made two tackles, including a half-TFL at Northwestern ... Registered two tackles against Minnesota ... Recorded one sack for a loss of two yards against Indiana ... Matched a career-high four tackles, including a sack and career-best 1.5 TFLs against Penn State ... Registered a half-TFL against Louisiana Tech ... Made four tackles and had a half-sack in victory over Charleston Southern ... Recorded three tackles, including his first career TFL, and registered his first-ever fumble recovery at Arizona State ... Made Illini debut in season-opening win over Western Michigan.
2011 - Freshman
Redshirted the 2011 season.
High School
Rated a four-star recruit by ESPNU and Scout.com and a three-star recruit by Rivals.com ... SuperPrep All-Dixie Region selection ... All-Southeast Region by PrepStar ... High school coach was Dominic Calloway ... MVP of the 2011 Metro Atlanta All-Star game... Selected as one of Georgia's Fab 50 recruits by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution ... Honorable mention Class AAAA All-State ... Selected No. 27 on Rivals.com's Georgia Top 30 list.
Personal
Full name is Darrius Ze'Andre Caldwell ... The son of Tuesday Caldwell and the late Corey Lundy ... Born on Feb. 9, 1993 ... Majoring in Physical Education ... Lists Deion Sanders as his favorite athlete because he played with confidence ... Plans to become a high school football coach after finishing school ... Chose Illinois over Georgia Tech, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, South Carolina and West Virginia.
