Commitment, trust, hard work — three words that epitomize what makes a good teammate, all of which were largely missing from last year’s disappointing 3-9 football season. In addition to the new coaching staff working under head coach Ron Zook, the 2010 Fighting Illini welcomed a junior college transfer who knows a thing or two about being a good teammate, especially off the field.

Trulon Henry, a junior starting at safety for this year’s Illini, transferred from the College of DuPage in the spring as a member of a more important team: the family he started just over two years ago.

Henry married his high school sweetheart, Morgan, following his release from Gilmer Federal Correctional Facility in West Virginia, where he spent almost five years for his part in the robbery of a Washington, D.C., store.

“It was difficult, sometimes I would make the trip to visit him and I would be turned away for no reason,” Morgan said. “I knew he’d be home eventually, and a lot of guys from (Washington D.C.) don’t have second chances — you get a different type of phone call that you may never see someone again.”

Playing football again was always on Henry’s mind. While he was incarcerated, his younger brother, Arrelious Benn, was starring at Dunbar High School and eventually paved the way for the No. 9 legacy at Illinois. He hoped for a second chance to get back in the game, but his window of opportunity was slowly closing. That is, until Fred Fimbres, the head coach at the College of DuPage, gambled on Henry. And so, the route to Champaign began in Glen Ellyn, Ill.

“My initial reaction was, ‘Let’s do it’,” Morgan said. “I was freshly out of (Spelman) College and my only other priorities were work, so whatever he needed help with, I was there. We were more of a team than anything.”

“Coach (Ron) Zook, Coach (Dan) Disch,Coach Vic (Koenning),they all brought me here,” Henry said. “The opportunity to play in the Big Ten that brought me to (the University of Illinois).”

In his last season playing at the junior college level, Trulon and Morgan had their first daughter, Tatum, just like they had planned while they were in high school. Her Illini pride is already beaming.

“(Tatum) is just over a year old,” Henry said. “She can say ‘I-L-L … I-N-I!’”

With school, football, a wife and child to take care of, Henry finds himself in a constant struggle to distribute his time evenly. His wife and child have been splitting time between Champaign and Washington D.C. so both Trulon and Morgan’s families can offer support. Henry is thankful his wife understands his situation as he lives out his dream to play Division I football.

“It’s tough,” Henry explained. “My wife is very understanding; if I get home at 10 o’clock at night and have to be up at 6:30 in the morning, I’m never there. She does a lot. Saturday is football games and Sunday is time for my family.”

Henry finds himself turning to his coaches for support and advice when it comes to balancing football and parenting at the age of 26.

“They are my role models,” Henry said. “They’ve been there before. They’ve been young and married and a parent before, so they are very supportive and teach me how to be a good husband and father.”

The hard work put in by the Illini junior on and off the field has caught the eye of defensive coordinator Koenning. He works Henry harder than most because he knows he has been through a great deal and can handle the adversity.

“He’s the guy I treat like a son,” Koenning said. “He’s got a lot to play for and a lot to prove and show; he is one of the better people I have ever met, and I would do anything for him.”

Henry has made the seamless transition into the Illini locker room, and with a nice sized Washington, D.C. contingent on the roster, he has felt right at home.

“Trulon, he’s a self-motivated guy,” explained junior cornerback Tavon Wilson, who is also Henry’s roommate. “The way he carries himself and handles his business with everything he has been through, he just does a tremendous job.”

Heading into a crucial weekend matchup with the Michigan Wolverines, Henry has proven he belongs in the starting lineup of Koenning’s 15th-best team defense in the nation. Having racked up 43 tackles and two interceptions through eight games, the sociology major isn’t just focusing on a possible bowl appearance to cap off this year and his career at Illinois — he has other obligations in addition to on-field production to tend to.

“I want to have a degree,” Henry said. “I want to succeed on the football field; I want to be a part of a hardworking, winning program that people respect. I want to be a good husband and father-wise, I just want to be a good role model for my daughter.”