William Riley (born February 10, 2006) is a Canadian

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. He played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for the

Illinois Fighting Illini The Illinois Fighting Illini () are the College athletics, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The university offers 10 men's and 11 women's Varsity team, varsity sports. The university op ...

High school career

Riley attended high school at Southwest Academy Prep in

London, Ontario London is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River (Ontario), Thames River and N ...

with brief stops at Preston High School and

Grand River Collegiate Institute Grand River Collegiate Institute is a public secondary school in Kitchener, Ontario. The school is located at 175 Indian Road. It is part of the Waterloo Region District School Board. As of November 2023, there are approximately 1450 full-time st ...

. He then attended

The Phelps School The Phelps School is an independent school, independent, Single-sex education, all-boys boarding school in Malvern, Pennsylvania, United States. Athletics Phelps won the 2015 Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association (PAISAA) boys b ...

Malvern, PA Malvern is a borough in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is west of Philadelphia. The population was 3,419 at the 2020 census. History The area was originally settled in the 17th century by Welsh immigrants who purchased land ...

where he spent the last two years of his high school career. He was ranked as the top-ranked Canadian prospect and No. 9 overall by

247Sports 247Sports is an American network of websites that focus mainly on college recruiting, athletic recruitment in college football and college basketball, basketball. It is owned and operated by Paramount Global, Paramount. The website hosts a large ...

, No. 10 by On3.com, and No. 11 by

Rivals.com Rivals.com (stylized as ''rivals'') is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was found ...

in the class of 2025. He averaged 21.9 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 2.5 assists during EYBL and was named Offensive MVP of the EYBL Indy Session, starring for UPlay Canada. He was named MVP of the 2024

Basketball Without Borders Basketball Without Borders is a basketball instructional camp organized by the NBA in conjunction with FIBA. It presents itself as a “basketball development and community outreach program that unites young basketball players to promote the sport ...

Global Camp during NBA All-Star weekend.

College career

On June 23, 2024, Riley committed to

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

. He was originally part of the class of 2025 but reclassified to 2024 to join earlier. At the time of his signing, Riley was the highest-ranked recruit signed by

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

in the internet era, surpassing Dee Brown from the class of 2002.

Freshman season

On Monday, November 11th, 2024, Riley was named the first Big Ten Freshman of the Week for the 2024-25 season. Riley's overall week (averaging 22.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per game) in two Illinois wins, as well as his securing the Illini freshman scoring record, tipped the scales in his favor. He went on to receive the award twice more. Following the Big Ten regular season's conclusion, he was named Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year. He later declared for the

2025 NBA Draft The 2025 NBA draft was the 79th edition of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) annual draft. Like the 2024 draft, this draft took place over two nights. The draft consisted of 59 picks as opposed to the full 60 due to the New York Knick ...

, and received a green room invite in the second wave of invitations on June 16.

Career statistics

College

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Personal life

Riley's parents are named Ray and Tracy (). His parents both played sports in high school. His dad ran track and his mom played hockey.

References

External links

Illinois Fighting Illini bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Riley, Will 2006 births Living people 21st-century Canadian sportsmen Canadian expatriate basketball people in the United States Canadian men's basketball players Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball players Small forwards Sportspeople from Kitchener, Ontario