Illinois basketball class of 2024 should get huge boost with Will Riley

Sunday was one of the biggest offseason days I can ever remember for the Illinois basketball team.

It is not every day, every year, or even every decade a five-star player commits to the Illini. On Sunday, we were able to secure the commitment and then signature of Will Riley.

Riley is rated as a five-star recruit and ranked as the No. 10 player in the class of 2025. He is also the No. 3 small forward in the country and the best player coming out of Pennsylvania.

Every team in the country wanted Riley on their roster, but Illinois was able to beat out some of the top teams like Kentucky, Alabama, and Arizona for his commitment.

While the big man is listed as a class of 2025 recruit, there was speculation that he might reclassify to the 2024 class. Well, I believe that speculation has officially ended.

Riley signed with Illinois on Sunday night. Sam Lance of Zagsblog.com then reported that his mom mentioned on the Instagram feed that was live streaming his commitment that Riley will start working out with the Illini in July. Illinois then announced later on in the day that Riley would indeed reclassify.

Will Riley will give the Illinois basketball team one of the best recruiting classes in the nation

As of right now, the recruiting sites haven’t updated the recruiting classes. They still have Riley as a member of the class of 2025. Since it hasn’t been updated, the Illini have the No. 1 class in the country for 2025. That is pretty fun to see.

But when all of the recruiting sites update the classes, where will Illinois land for the class of 2024?

247Sports has us currently with the No. 50 class for incoming freshmen and the No. 18 transfer class. The overall ranking is No. 30 in the country. Adding the No. 9 player, according to 247Sports, in the country will boost that number up greatly.

With the addition of Riley, I imagine you are looking at Illinois moving up to a top 15 class in the country. Just eyeballing the recruiting rankings, No. 14 Georgia has one five-star, three four-star recruits, and five three-star recruits. This includes transfers.

Illinois should have one of the best classes for 2024. Riley was a huge addition to the program. The 2024-25 season should be an all-timer.