Illinois basketball had lot of great offseason additions after a big run to the Elite 8 in 2024.
The offseason acquisitions were needed. Only two players returned to the Illini roster from that Elite 8 run, so Brad Underwood needed to load up.
Illinois hit the transfer portal hard, landing some key pieces that have helped us into the middle of the top 25. The overseas additions have been huge too. Kasparas Jakucionis might be the best player in college basketball.
And then you have freshmen who are newcomers. The highlight, on paper, from the class of 2024 was Will Riley. He was a five-star recruit who was ranked inside the top 20 in the country.
Over the years, Illinois hasn’t had a lot of five-star commitments. You can literally count them on one hand over the past few decades. So, the addition of Riley had Illinois fans drooling over what could be.
Since Riley joined the Illini, his time in Champaign has been a roller coaster. He quickly rose in national prominence in the first couple of games, which included a 31-point outing against Eastern Illinois. Since then, it has been an up-and-down ride. As of late, that ride has continued in a downward trajectory, and at this point, we have flatlined.
Struggles against USC is just the latest for former five-star Will Riley
Illinois is coming off one of the worst losses I have seen in a while. The Illini laid an egg against a below-average USC program on Saturday.
Most of the Illini players didn’t play well, so I am not pinpointing one player to lay the blame on. Riley did struggle the most, though.
While his offense has been bad, Riley’s defense was even worse on Saturday. He had a defensive rating of 127.2, which means when he was on the court, Illinois was giving up 127.2 points per 100 possessions. That is the worst on the team.
USC took advantage of Riley’s bad defensive abilities. He couldn’t stop the Trojans, as he had a stop percentage of 0%, which is the percentage of positions where the opposing team didn’t score against Riley. Yes, he didn’t stop them once. That was last on the team.
Riley was bad offensively and defensively, and he couldn’t give Illinois anything extra to help bridge the gap. An example is rebounding. Riley’s offensive rebounding rate was 0% and his defensive rebounding rate was 6.4%, both of which were last on the team in the USC game.
Will Riley on the struggle bus is nothing new for the Illinois basketball program
It was an ugly outing for Riley on Saturday against the Trojans, but this isn’t a new development. This kid, who should still be in high school, has been struggling for quite some time.
For the season, Riley has a defensive box plus-minus of 2.5, which is the worst on the team among players getting at least 10 minutes per game. His struggles have really been inflamed in the past 10 games.
Riley put up 13 points against Arkansas Little Rock, and since then, he has hit a wall. In the past 10 games, Riley has only had three double-digit scoring contests. While he is averaging 11.1 points per game this season, that number has dropped greatly. In the last 10 games, he is only averaging 7.1 points per game.
The shooting efficiency has been ugly as well. Since Thanksgiving, Riley has shot 21-of-74, 28.4%, from the field. This bad shooting percentage includes just 6-of-40, 15%, from three-point range.
Brad Underwood has a tough challenge of getting Will Riley right
This isn’t a pile-on Riley article. I believe Riley is the five-star recruit that he was being billed before entering the college ranks. At this point, I strongly believe he should probably have stayed in high school for his senior season.
The cat is out of the bag, though. You can’t put the toothpaste back in the bottle. So, now Underwood has the monumental task of getting Riley right so he can help Illinois not only get back to the NCAA tournament but to potentially win the national championship.
What is the strategy, though? There are a few things that come to mind that might help the young star.
First off, stress to Riley that he doesn’t have to live up to the hype. He was a projected first-round NBA Draft pick. He was a five-star recruit. At this point, take the pressure off of him and ease him into playing time. Start from the ground up.
I would like for Riley to play closer to the basket. He plays out on the perimeter a lot, and with his 6-foot-8 size, he could play more in the paint. I know it is flashy to hit three-pointers, but he isn’t that player right now.
It would be interesting to see what Riley could do on the block. He could get the ball in the post and go to work. Don’t let him dribble a bunch and get into tough situations. Simplify the game for him. Get the ball to him in the post and if he has a look, let him shoot. If he doesn’t have a look, kick the ball back out.
Lastly, cut Riley off completely from shooting three-pointers. I know I kind of touched on this, but Riley should lose his deep shooting privileges. While I want to see him in the paint more often, he can go out on the perimeter to space the floor. But if he gets it on the perimeter, keep the ball moving. Don’t shoot from distance.
Riley has a ton of talent. I don’t doubt that one bit. It just feels like Illinois is trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. Riley hasn’t found his groove with this team. Much like a talented quarterback in the NFL not getting the speed of the game immediately, let’s simplify the playbook so Riley can see success. Don’t give up on this kid, but let’s adjust how we are using him.