Will Riley, a five-star recruit in the Class of 2025, signed his letter of intent Sunday to play for Illinois and will reclassify to 2024.
Riley became the highest-ranked recruit the Fighting Illini signed in “the internet era,” according to Illinois in a news release. Riley was the No. 9 overall prospect and the No. 2 small forward according to 247Sports, and No. 12 overall in that service’s composite rankings.
Riley, a 6-foot-8 Canadian prospect, was playing at The Phelps School, a prep school in Pennsylvania. He is averaging 21.9 points per game on the Nike EYBL circuit this year.
He chose Illinois over Arizona, Alabama and Kentucky.
“It’s exciting to add a supremely talented player in Will Riley to our program. He is the consummate positionless basketball player who has all the tools offensively,” Illinois coach Brad Underwood said in a statement. “… Will has the ability to score it at all three levels, and he gives us another action player who can make plays for others and himself based on matchups. He is skilled, has a great midrange and float game, and extremely high basketball IQ.”
By reclassifying to 2024, Riley joins a roster that loaded up on transfers, namely guards Kylan Boswell (Arizona) and Tre White (Louisville) and forwards Ben Humrichous (Evansville), Carey Booth (Notre Dame) and Jake Davis (Mercer). Underwood also brought in Tomsilav Ivisic, a center who has played for the Croatian national team, and Kasparas Jakucionis, a guard from FC Barcelona.
–Field Level Media
