Yorkville Christian’s Jayden Riley enjoying breakout summer, sets lofty goals for senior season

Yorkville Christian’s Jayden Riley is not afraid of lofty goals.

The senior guard is one of the breakout players early this summer, his list of scholarship offers up to six – Montana State, Northern Illinois, Western Illinois, Eastern Illinois, Le Moyne and Long Island – after several impressive performances in mid-June at the Riverside-Brookfield Shootout.

So, what are Riley’s goals for his final high school season?

“I’m ready to get the season started because it’s my last one,” Riley said. “My goals for next season are to win a state championship, win Mr. Basketball and win (Illinois) Gatorade Player of the Year.”

The 6-foot-2 Riley will once again be the focal point of Yorkville Christian’s offense after the program suffered heavy graduation losses, including three of five starters.

He averaged 23 points, 8.5 assists, 4.5 rebounds, shot 53% from the field and 83% at the free-throw line to be named Class 1A First Team All-State by Illinois Media last season and Record Newspapers Player of the Year.

“Jayden is the one who will orchestrate everything on the floor for us,” Yorkville Christian coach Aaron Sovern said. “He’s a very unselfish player. We had to get on him this past weekend to get him to score more. We have teams, like Homewood-Flossmoor, running two or three guys at him. He’s difficult to officiate because he uses his body so well. If you watch him objectively, he gets fouled every play. He also wants to make plays for his teammates. His role really grew.”

Riley said he was happy with his total game at the R-B shootout, which drew a lot of attention from colleges. Riley said the June period helped him in his new role as a leader, but he dealt with a learning curve.

“I think I did solid during R-B,” Riley said. “It wasn’t my best basketball that I have played, but it was good competition and who doesn’t like to play good comp.

“At Romeoville, I did good taking what the defense gives and playing great defense, even if their best player was 6-5 or 6-7.”

Riley said last season taught him several lessons that helped him this offseason.

“I learned a lot from last season, just to get around double teams or to blitz the ball screen to get around and to not force anything and let the game come to me,” Riley said. “I also learned how to pace myself , where I can play the whole game.”

Riley said his primary focus during the offseason, including in the July AAU season, is to become a better all-around player on both ends of the floor.

“I’ve worked the most on my handle and my shot because I want my shot to be more consistent, so I can make the game easier for myself and my team,” Riley said. “My handle is something I want to perfect, where like the defense doesn’t even know what I’m going do because I can do so much with the ball.”

Yorkville Christian, who finished with a 21-12 record last season, will transition to playing in Class 2A next season. The Mustangs will lean on Riley, juniors Tray Alford, Kayden Maxwell, Blake Wells and sophomore Sean Drynan, along with senior guard Jed Ogulei and Jack Versluys and Jordan Purvis.

“We graduated some contributors but had some kids who had to grow their roles this summer,” Sovern said. “Tray continues to excel and uses his body well. Kayden had to step up big time and is more aggressive. We had a lot of teaching moments and saw growth from one game to the next. It was not about wins or losses, but the opportunity to compete and get better.”