This week Illinois on SI will announce its 2024-25 men’s basketball awards – one each, Monday through Friday – to honor the individual contributions of last season’s Illini.
Defensive Player of the Year: Tomislav Ivisic
Transfer of The Year: Kylan Boswell
With five players averaging double-figures scoring last season, Illinois was as well-balanced and deep as any squad in college basketball. But, among that quintet of scorers, only one of them came off the bench for the majority of the season, making him the easy choice for the Illini’s Sixth Man of the Year.
2024-2025 stats: 12.6 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 2.2 apg
During his freshman campaign, Riley expanded his role from beginning to end, debuting in a fairly strict spot-up-shooting role for the Illini and growing into a legitimate three-level scorer with facilitating ability by the time March rolled around.
Standing 6-foot-8 and possessing solid athleticism, Riley rose above smaller defenders and was often too quick for defenders who could match his size. A crafty scorer in the lane, Riley used shot fakes and fancy footwork to create space and get his shot off. Also an excellent cutter, Riley took advantage of Illinois’ exceptional passers – especially big man Tomislav Ivisic – to earn easy buckets on dives to the rim.
ANOTHER.
Will Riley’s 5th 20-point game of the season. He ties Kofi Cockburn, Giorgi Bezhanishvili and Trent Frazier for 5th by an Illinois freshman🤯 pic.twitter.com/r9f6iVoaAG
— Illinois Men’s Basketball (@IlliniMBB) March 14, 2025
The whole package added up to a Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year campaign for Riley, who, aside from two emergency starts during Illinois’ battle with a team-wide flu bug, didn’t enter the lineup to stay until the end of February. The Illini can only hope Riley, who is projected to be a first-round pick in the upcoming NBA Draft, postpones the next level for one more year for one more go-round in Champaign.
Runner-up: Morez Johnson Jr., who was a top-tier rebounder and an excellent interior defensive presence off the bench.
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