By Larry Smith - Co-Host & Executive Producer, IlliniGuys Sports Spectacular

March 12, 2025

(Photos courtesy the Riley family)

(Editor's Note: Larry is one of the most respected news and sports journalists in the country. He's covered nearly 70 major championships worldwide and spent more than 20 years as an anchor & correspondent for CNN Sports & Turner Sports. He's the host of the daily radio show/podcast 'Sports IQ With Larry Smith' and is the studio host for the 'WNBA on Ion' show, which resumes on Friday, May 16th.)

On Tuesday, Illinois freshman Will Riley was named the Big Ten’s Sixth Man of the Year. It’s a fitting honor for the 5-star recruit from Canada who came off the bench to score an Illini freshman debut-record 31 points on opening night against Eastern Illinois, but it almost seems a day late.

Because the 6-foot-8 phenom is now firmly entrenched in the starting lineup, a move made by Illini head coach Brad Underwood after the historic loss to Duke and one that has paid dividends; Illinois is 3-0 since the switch with Riley providing a spark from the opening tip and not as a reserve. The wiry phenom is averaging 16.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists during that stretch.

Rest assured a healthy Riley will never come off the bench again in an Illinois uniform. Perhaps the most gifted Illini on this roster when it comes to creating his own shot, Riley may be the x-factor on an Illinois team whose potential is once again being whispered about all across college basketball; the one player opposing teams have yet to figure out an answer for and a pro prospect who is on the minds of every NBA scout who watches him play.

He's as impressive off the court as he is on it. I casually introduced myself to him during the pregame shootaround late last month at Madison Square Garden. A ‘hello’ and a fist bump would have sufficed, but Riley purposefully got up off his courtside chair, looked me in the eye, and shook my hand. As the father of a 22-year old young man myself, I immediately wanted to meet the father behind this athlete who has clearly been taught more than just the game.

A few moments around Ray Riley and you can see Will is a chip off the old block. Tall and quiet and someone who would rather stay out of the spotlight, he is polite and thoughtful while extremely proud of his son, who stands on the brink of a major decision this spring. I wanted to learn more about Will and the Riley family and Ray agreed to sit down with me for a one-on-one interview.

Larry: Ray, thanks for joining me tonight. Let’s start at the beginning; how did your family end up in Canada?

Ray: That was kind of a long road. My parents met in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and then they both moved to England, where me, my sister Angela and my brother Marcus were born. Then my dad moved to Canada for a job and then we came later in 1974.

Larry: Were you a good athlete yourself?

Ray: I was athletic. We're an athletic family. We played all different sports. We had basketball, we had volleyball and we had track, and those ended up being our main sports.

Ray Riley thought, at one point, that young Will would follow in the family's footsteps and pursue an athletic career in track and field. (Courtesy the Riley family)

Larry: When did you know that Will was something special as an athlete?

Ray: Whether he touched the ball or ran track, anything he did he was special. I honestly thought it would be track and field, maybe because track and field is my background, but basketball was his passion. Every time he excelled on a team and outgrew that team, we ended up moving him. So we ended up driving to Toronto (from their home in Kitchener), an hour drive, then an hour back, plus a two hour practice, so four hour day minimum, three days a week. Yeah, big commitment. But honestly, I miss those times, because those are just times that we spent together.

Larry: You have worked in a local factory your entire life, but your passion for track led you to coaching. Tell me about that.

Ray: It's funny, because everybody in our area knows that Rileys do track and field because Marcus, of course, who had a scholarship (to West Virginia) and did really well. And my younger brother was absolutely amazing, too. But I put my young girls in track and field in the same club that we were in, and they were bugging me to help out. So I ended up helping out, and then I got the bug. So the girls stopped probably two, three years later, and I just continued. Close to 10 years ago, I decided to run my own club, the Invictus Athletics Club in Waterloo.

Larry: I understand one of your athletes won the decathlon at Canada’s Olympic Trials last year and is poised to make the team for the 2028 games. Not bad!

Ray: Yes, through the years I’ve had some very successful athletes. I try to get the athletes in grade seven and build the trust and just work with them and their families and try and get them some scholarships and things like that. I believe I've had over 30 state champions and over 20 national champions, 10 people have been put on the national team. And everything that we do is volunteer based, so you don't get paid for that. I've talked to people in the states and they're surprised, because what I do is actually a career. Yeah, they make money in the states; (it’s) more of a passion here,

Larry: Ahhh, so it’s no wonder you thought that Will might take that path.

Will is on track to join Canadian stars like Jamal Murray of the Denver Nuggets in the NBA. (Courtesy the Riley family)

Ray: Because he was so talented (in the high jump), and that's what I know. But he loved it, he loved soccer, he loved karate, he loved it all, but not the same as basketball. He was just that much better than anyone. And then you move him to the next level, and it takes him a minute, and then he gets used to it, and then he exceeds that level, and he just kept going and going. (Then he landed with) Dwayne Washington, who has had a couple NBA players. RJ Barrett and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander are from that program. By grade nine, that's when (Dwayne’s) like, ‘you know what? Like, this kid is something special.’ He was around 5’9” and during COVID in the summer, he grew six inches. So now he has a 6’4” body, but still a point guard. And the way I trained him was not strength and weights, it was all skill based. So he had all those skills.

Larry: So when it came down to choosing colleges, how did that decision come about?

Ray: They were all great schools. When you have Arizona and Alabama, you had Kentucky, and then you had Illinois, and we went and saw all of them, and they were amazing schools. But those other three were bigger schools, like a Toronto, and we're from Kitchener, so Illinois is more like a Kitchener, smaller field. You still have the pressure, you still have all that, but it's a smaller field. And then when it comes to the coaching, Brad Underwood was great and all the lead assistants were great. Orlando (Antigua's) pedigree was absolutely incredible with the people that he's worked with. (Strength coach Adam Fletcher) to get him stronger. So, we have (Klutch Sports), we have Dwayne, we have Orlando…we're not trying to reinvent the wheel. We're going with proven talent.

Larry: Who made the decision to reclassify and play right away instead of waiting for 2025?

Ray: Oh, that was mostly Will's decision. He went to Basketball Without Borders, and he's playing against (current Illini teammate Kasparas Jakucionis) and all these players in that higher class. He really didn't want to do another year of high school knowing that he could play with them. Some of those colleges did not want him to (play now); they wanted him for the next year.

Larry: You guys sound really close. How hard has it been to have him playing away in another country?

Ray: It's very, very tough. I guess I'm used to it, but I still miss him every day. He actually left when he was 15. He went to a prep school in London, Ontario, which was an hour away, so he kind of had a little step before he made the big step. So yeah, it was really tough. And it was tough for him at times, missing home, but he's very driven and has a goal. He just kept plugging through.

"I still miss him every day...but he has a goal". Will Riley's father Ray says the next step in his career will be left up to him. (Photo courtesy the Riley family)

Larry: You and Will’s mom are no longer together, but I see you at games. CBS focused on her “Canada” shirt during the Michigan game, but you were right there in frame sitting two seats away.

Ray: Her personality is more there, and I have no problem with that, because his mom's amazing, and she's all about Will, and he would not be where he is without her. And that's what makes this work, and the family work. It's always been making sure that Will's okay, or making sure all our kids were okay. This whole journey has actually brought us as a family closer. I see my daughters in New York. I get to see Marcus; before was like twice a year. Maybe now we're seeing each other all the time. (Will) is bringing our family together on both sides, for sure. I've been walking on air for three years, and I do not take it for granted where I am as a father, to have a son like him and him as a man as well. That makes me really proud. And I think that's when people meet him that they say that more so than his ability, just the man he is, which makes me very proud.

Larry: Regardless of how deep the team advances in the NCAA tournament, Will has a decision to make when the ball stops bouncing this season. NBA scouts like his game. Some think another year in school would be great for his strength and development. Where are you guys on that?

Ray: It’s whatever he's comfortable with. So we have a professional team in Klutch and Dwayne. They’ll let us know what's going on and then we’ll make a decision as a family, but we trust in them and what's going to happen. If he moves on, he moves on. If he comes back, he comes back. Big 10 tournament coming up and like I just want to enjoy that and then March Madness. Like all that will happen. I personally think his body's fine. He's gained 20 pounds. His NBA position will be more of a shooting guard, which would be fine, where some are pushing more as a small forward, power forward, which he's not. So his game's more for the NBA, and he's doing great in college, but I think strength wise, he's fine, so I don't think that should be a deterrent, but we'll just see. I used to lead the path. Okay, you're going here, you're doing here, you're doing this. But now it's up to him.