Sturdy's Quick Take - Illini Land 5-Star Will Riley Commitment

In Will Riley, the Illini add another talented player to the mix that is a 3-level scorer. The 5-star wing can play the 2, 3, or 4 offensively and can play with the ball or off the ball as a catch and shoot guy. Riley can score in bunches, hitting 3's, pull-ups, and floaters at a high level.

Defensively, he has great positional size and length which allow him to get deflections and block or alter shots.

His biggest issues will be strength and a 4-month crash course with Illini Strength and Conditioning Coach Adam Fletcher will be important.

The other issue will be keeping the other players happy. Riley wants to play, but so does Tre White and Ty Rodgers. With 10 players projected to get minutes, Brad Underwood will have to tweak his style of riding starters for 35-38 minutes and trust his bench.

Podcasts

558 Illini Win Lifts the Streak to 10

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557 Sturdy & Stevens on the Keaton Wagler Game

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556 Illini Defeat Purdue 88-82 in the Keaton Wagler Game

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1.23.26 - Illinois vs Purdue - Top 15 Showdown

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555 - CJ Moore Talks Keaton Wagler, the NBA Draft & Illini Tourney Expectations

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554 - Illini Flush Terrapins 89-70 for 8th Win in a Row

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553 Illini Beat Minnesota Winning Streak Up to 7

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1.16.26 - Illini Hoops Update, Portal Kombat & CFP Future

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552 - Illini Break 3-Game Losing Streak at Northwestern

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551 Illini Road Win Over Iowa 75-69

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1.9.26 - Portal Kombat, Illini Women & A'ja Wilson & Illini vs Iowa Coming Up

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550 Illini Crush Rutgers 81-55

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549 Illini Portal Kombat Wins with Steve Sturm

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548 Illini Strangle Penn State 73-65

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1.2.26 - Music City Champs, Basketball Rolling & Why the SEC is Overrated

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