Before the start of Illinois football's training camp on Aug. 2 in Champaign, beat writer Scott Richey is counting down the Top 50 most important Illini heading into the 2019 season:
No. 41: Lere Oladipo
Vitals: 6-3, 280, R-So., DL
Hometown: Huntley
High School: Huntley
Looking back at 2018: Oladipo, who was one of the few true freshmen that didn't play in 2017 as a redshirt, had to wait a bit longer for his Illinois debut. An injury in late August pushed Oladipo's first game to the third of the season against South Florida in Chicago.