Kedric Prince, IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

July 21, 2024

Champaign, IL – Just think, several short months ago, on March 7 to be exact, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, five-star basketball recruit Will Riley announced his top 10 choices for the next chapter of his life. The list included Arizona, Kentucky, Duke, Alabama, Michigan, Villanova, UCLA, NBL, London Lions, and the NBA G League Ignite.

Will Riley courtesy Illinois Athletics

The Fighting Illini were absent from this list until former Illinois assistant coach Chester Frazier departed for West Virginia, creating an opening for Orlando Antigua to return to Champaign. Antigua, renowned as one of the nation's top recruiters, rejoined the Illinois staff, spelling potential trouble for the rest of the Big Ten.

Where does that lead us today? Riley promptly added Illinois to his new list of suitors, casting a shadow over the other schools involved. The day Antigua was reintroduced to Illinois, he delivered a clear message. "We're here to win it all; we want a national title, and we're going to recruit like it," Antigua said.

By now, you've probably heard that the 2024-25 Fighting Illini men's basketball team is loaded with NBA potential. Here at IlliniGuys, we have shared numerous preseason workout updates, some in our subscriber-only message boards. 

Now is the time to focus on what could be a legitimate one-and-done NBA prospect at Illinois.

One source shared initial skepticism. "When Will arrived, I thought there was no way this kid could play Big Ten basketball. He's so thin, he hasn't been with the team, so he's going to be behind. I'm not saying he won't play, but I just don't think he's ready." That was day one.

After a few sessions with strength and conditioning coach Adam Fletcher and getting to know his teammates, the source changed their tune dramatically seeing his work ethic.

"Man... that kid is special. His upside is super scary. Out of all of the guys on the team, this kid will probably be the lottery pick. All I can say is, after a few games under his belt, the Big Ten will be talking about this kid. He's cat quick, and how he's able to change directions at 6-foot-8 is beyond me. He shoots it as well as anyone on the team, one time at practice Will made eighteen three pointers in a row."

Reclassifying wasn't a bad move for the incoming freshman. At nineteen years old, Riley left behind the EYBL by committing to Illinois to start working with Fletcher.

Recently, we spoke with Tracy Riley, Will’s mother, who told IlliniGuys, "I trust my son. We understand that he's a freshman; we weren't expecting any program to just give him minutes. I do think it's a matter of time, I know my son’s game."

Big Ten and college basketball analyst Andy Katz recently updated his Big Ten power rankings with the new West Coast schools included. Katz broke the conference into tiers of four, placing Purdue, Indiana, and Illinois in tier one, calling them his "title favorites."

Before Riley's arrival, the national media had slowly begun recognizing Illinois as one of the best teams in college basketball this upcoming season. Now that Riley has landed in Champaign, Illinois has become one of the favorites to win the Big Ten and is ranked in the top 15 nationally by many publications. Welcome, Will Riley—your table is set.

Follow me on Twitter @KedPrince4 

email: KedIlliniGuys@gmail.com