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. 42: Isaiah Gay
Vitals: 6-3, 230, Jr., DE
Hometown: Nashville, N.C.
High School: Northern Nash
Looking back at 2018: Gay made more starts as a sophomore (three) than he did as a true freshman in 2017 (two), but his role changed. Gay finished last fall with 20 tackles, one tackle for loss and one sack.