CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) – Kaden Feagin feels great.

“Definitely don’t feel any effects from it,” Feagin said on Tuesday when asked if he’s still being impacted by the hip injury which ended his 2024 season.

Of course, getting to the point of being able to say that was a long road.

Feagin missed Illinois’ last eight games of his sophomore season after hurting himself in practice.

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The injury came at a time when Feagin, an Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond grad, and his coaches all thought he was on the cusp of taking his game to the next level.

“I came off that Penn State game feeling pretty confident,” he said. “Those few practices we had in the bye week and then Purdue [preparation] week I was feeling pretty good.”

Feagin ran for 306 yards and three touchdowns in the five games he played in as a sophomore.

He says the game slowed down in his head through being in observation mode for several months while his physical ability was limited.

He uses the word grateful to describe the feeling of being back on the field now. However, it didn’t come without a whole lot of work over the offseason.

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“I’m very routine,” Feagin said of his offseason work. “That kind of comes from my grandpa.”

Feagin is from Atwood, Illinois. His grandfather, on his mom’s side, would drive over from Hammond early in the morning.

“It would be just a normal day in the summer, I’d just hear a knock on my door at 6 a.m.,” Feagin recalled. “He’s like ‘Let’s go mow the lawn’ or something.”

The early wake up calls, similar to those require during Feagin’s offseason recovery process, taught him a lot.

“He’s always working,” the Illini running back said of his grandfather, who is approaching 80 years old. “I think I really get a lot of my work ethic from him and just seeing what he does and how he provides for his family, he’s a great example for me.”

His grandfather is a retired electrician but the ALAH product says he keeps plenty busy.

Feagin was named to a watch list for a national award on Tuesday, alongside his teammate Aidan Laughery.