Illinois Fighting Illini forward Will Riley is currently pursuing a spot in the NBA through the 2025 Draft on June 25-26. After a one-and-done stint with coach Brad Underwood’s Fighting Illini in the 2024-25 season, Riley is now eagerly waiting for the draft as he has performed to his strengths in the 2025 draft combine from May 11 to 18 of this year.
Riley is bringing on the support that he gets from his close ones, especially from his parents, his father Ray Riley and his mother Tracy Hooks, as they are all hoping that he hears his name called in the draft. Both parents have been with the Kitchener, Ontario native from the start as they all grew up as full-fledged Canadian nationals.
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In fact, according to a report by Hoops Hype on May 11, both of Riley’s parents were athletes in their own right. Ray Riley was a known track and field athlete back in his high school days, while Tracy Hooks had stints of playing hockey. Will Riley also has three older sisters with his parents, namely, Brittany, Justine and Ashleigh.
Perhaps Will Riley’s whole family looked on to see the 19-year-old perform tremendously in his first and likely only stint of college basketball with the Fighting Illini. In the 2024-25 season, the freshman averaged 12.6 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 0.3 steals and 0.3 blocks in around 25.6 minutes in 35 games played. Riley was a huge spark off the bench for the Fighting Illini, after which he then started nine games for the team.
Eventually, he was named the Big Ten Conference Sixth Man of the Year for his efforts.
Riley and the rest of the Fighting Illini then finished the recently concluded campaign with an overall record of 22-13 (12-8, Big Ten). They then made it to this year’s national tournament and reached the second round of the postseason. There, they matched up against coach Mark Pope’s Kentucky Wildcats, but had their national title hopes unfortunately thwarted through a nine-point loss, 84-75.
For what ended up becoming his last outing for the Fighting Illini and collegiate hoops as a whole, Riley finished the game with five points, five rebounds and an assist in 26 minutes of playing time.
Will Riley is projected to be selected with the 19th overall pick by the Brooklyn Nets
According to ESPN’s latest 2025 NBA mock draft, Will Riley is expected to be selected with the No. 19 overall pick in the first round by coach Jordi Fernandez’s Brooklyn Nets. The Nets acquired the selection from the Milwaukee Bucks, as the team had to give Brooklyn the pick as part of the New York Knicks’ blockbuster deal to snag Mikal Bridges in the summer of 2024.
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