2025 five-star recruit Will Riley replaces John Calipari's Arkansas with Illinois: REPORT

Will Riley’s recruitment has taken another twist, with John Calipari’s Arkansas taking a direct hit. On3’s Joe Titpton confirms this in a new report, indicating that Riley has replaced Arkansas with Illinois in his final five shortlist.

Riley previously released a final five shortlist in April, which included Arkansas along with Kentucky, Arizona, Alabama, and the NBL In addition to replacing Arkansas with Illinois in his updated shortlist, Riley is more specific about his NBL option, the New Zealand Breakers.

Riley’s replacement of Arkansas with Illinois is coming after his official visit to the Fighting Illini earlier in June. The visit was part of his round of visits to the schools on his shortlist, starting with Arizona on May 31.

A look at Will Riley's profile

Will Riley is one of the nation’s top basketball prospects in the 2025 class. Ranked in the top 25 by all major platforms, he has stirred the interest of many top programs, landing at least 21 scholarship offers. The small forward from the Phelps School in Malvern, Pennsylvania, is 6-ft-8 tall and weighs 180 pounds.

Will Riley is among the top five prospects in his position nationally, ranking No. 2 in the state of Pennsylvania. With a profile like this, a top program like Arkansas showed interest, officially extending an offer to him on May 21, 2023. However, a lot has changed in the program since then, not least the hiring of John Calipari as the new Razorbacks coach.

The change in the coaching staff at Arkansas may have been responsible for the cooling off of the mutual interest between Riley and the program. Kentucky began recruiting Riley when Calipari was still the Wildcats coach. However, the coaching change at Lexington has not affected the interest in Riley. With Mark Pope in charge, Kentucky seems to be in pole position to sign the five-star small forward.

Having paid a visit to all the schools on his shortlist, Will Riley may be ready to decide on where to commit. This decision will be informed by personal preferences. He revealed what he prioritizes in an interview with On3’s Jamie Shaw. He said:

“When I go on my visits, I’m going to take in the people that are around me, the culture of the program, the coaches. I’ll look if it fits my play style and all that. I’m going to be looking for a team that plays me the way that I play.”

However, Riley may skip college basketball altogether, choosing to play professionally overseas with the New Zealand Breakers.