Top-25 small forward Will Riley has committed to Illinois

Top-25 recruit Will Riley has committed to Illinois and reclassified to the 2024 class, planning to enroll and suit up for the Fighting Illini next season.

He officially signed his letter of intent with the university on Sunday.

“It is exciting to add a very talented player to our program in Will Riley,” said coach Brad Underwood. “He’s a consummate positional basketball player who has all the tools offensively. Obviously, (Illinois assistant coach) Orlando (Antigua) was instrumental in his relationship and did a great job leading this recruitment. It’s going to have the ability to score at all three levels. , and he gives us another action player who can make plays for others based on matchups, is skilled, has a great midrange and float game, and a very high basketball IQ.

A 6-foot-9 small forward from Canada who attended Phelps School (Pennsylvania), Riley is ranked No. 24 on the ESPN 100 for the 2025 class. He has been one of the top scorers on the Nike EYBL circuit throughout the spring, averaging 21.9 points with UPlay.

Riley visited Arizona, Illinois, Kentucky and Alabama, but his relationship with Antigua — who recruited Riley while he was on John Calipari’s staff at Kentucky — helped the Illini win.

Underwood dramatically reloaded Illinois after the departures of Terrence Shannon Jr., Marcus Domask, Coleman Hawkins and Quincy Guerrier from a team that went 29-9 and advanced to the Elite Eight. Riley is the latest offseason addition to a group that includes international recruits Tomislav Ivicic and Kasparas Jakousionis, as well as Keelan Boswell (Arizona), Trey White (Louisville), Ben Humricus (Evansville), Kerry Booth (Notre Dame) and transfers Zach Davis. (Mercer).