{"id":139186,"date":"2025-05-20T07:00:35","date_gmt":"2025-05-20T11:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=139186"},"modified":"2025-05-17T15:32:12","modified_gmt":"2025-05-17T19:32:12","slug":"will-riley-2025-nba-draft-profile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/05\/20\/will-riley-2025-nba-draft-profile\/","title":{"rendered":"Will Riley 2025 NBA Draft Profile"},"content":{"rendered":"

Will Riley<\/a> was a highly rated player coming into the 2024-25 season. He was a five-star recruit and the top player in Illinois’ five-man freshman class. Riley,\u00a0 who originally hails from Canada, played his prep ball in Pennsylvania. Brad Underwood<\/a> knew exactly what he was getting in Riley. He was ready to show off his high volume shooting ability the minute he arrived in Champaign. Despite his high rating, Riley wasn’t an automatic starter when he arrived on campus. Still, he proved to be a very important piece for the Fighting Illini. The hype late in the season led to Will Riley’s NBA Draft decision. Like his teammate Kasparas Jakucionis<\/a>, Riley sits in a good position to be a high draft choice in June.<\/p>\n

Will Riley 2025 NBA Draft Profile<\/h2>\n

College Career<\/h3>\n

With so much talent already in Champaign, Will Riley came in without a starting spot waiting for him. He didn’t let that hold him back, though, as Riley quickly became arguably the best player for Illinois off their bench. He played 25.7 minutes a game despite not being a starter in 26 of his 35 outings. His debut game saw him score 31 points. Riley’s first start came in early January, as the Illini began to experiment with their lineup, along with injuries occurring to Jakucionis and others. Not to mention, Ben Humrichous<\/a>‘ lack of consistency also gave Riley a chance to prove that he was a great option at the three spots.<\/p>\n

He made two starts in January, before he quickly went back to coming off the bench. He went on a five-game stretch of scoring no more than seven points around that time. That changed dramatically as he was huge in a game on the road at Michigan State. With Jakucionis in foul trouble, Riley came in and gave the Spartans strong defenders a tough time. He finished the game with 19 points, further showcasing that he can take over a game at any point. His effort wasn’t enough to get the win on the road, but it proved he was ready for a bigger role.<\/p>\n

He was continuing to see big minutes, but he hit another level at the close of the regular season, as the Illini lost Morez Johnson Jr.<\/a> for the rest of the season, and Tre White<\/a> completely disappeared. That gave Riley the chance to start the final seven games. In three of those games, he scored at least 21 points.<\/p>\n