Phelps School forward Will Riley signs with Illinois
Riley intends to reclassify into the 2024 class and will join Illinois this coming season after the Canadian continued to see his stock rise while at Phelps School.
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/pmn/VSF4Q5ZT5JEMNP64UEFODRIGSU.jpg)
Phelps School’s Will Riley, a Canadian small forward who’s a five-star prospect, announced Sunday his commitment to Illinois this upcoming season and signed with the program.
He intends to reclassify into the class of 2024, forgoing his final season of high school ball to play at the collegiate level. The 6-foot-8 Riley, currently ranked by ESPN as No. 24 in the nation for the 2025 class, would be eligible for the 2025 NBA draft and has already appeared in ESPN’s mock draft as a first-round pick.
Riley is considered the highest-ranked high school recruit to land at Illinois. Riley narrowed his final list of schools to Kentucky, Alabama, Arizona, and Illinois while he was also considering turning professional with the New Zealand Breakers.
“It’s exciting to add a supremely talented player in Will Riley to our program,” Illinois coach Brad Underwood said in a statement. “He is the consummate positionless basketball player who has all the tools offensively.
“Will has the ability to score it at all three levels, and he gives us another action player who can make plays for others and himself based on matchups. He is skilled, has a great midrange and float game, and extremely high basketball IQ.”
Riley, who joined Phelps in 2022, averaged 26.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 4.1 assists this season. He helped guide the Lions to a PAISAA championship appearance, though, they fell to Perkiomen School.