The UCLA basketball team will be returning a third player next season, Cody Riley, who just announced that he has withdrawn his name from the NBA Draft and will return to the Bruins.
It’s Christmas in May for the UCLA basketball team. Just hours after Jaylen Hands withdrew his name from the NBA draft, redshirt freshman power forward Cody Riley has done the same thing and will also return to Westwood next season.
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It gets even better when you consider that sophomore-to-be, forward Kris Wilkes, has also withdrawn his name from the draft and will return to UCLA.
Cody Riley has withdrawn from the NBA Draft and will return to UCLA, school announces.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) May 30, 2018
Before the weekend, it was thought that all three would not return to the Bruins next season for a variety of reasons. In regards to Riley, an article from Bruin Report Online, which came out last week, stated that he might not return because of academic issues.
Author Tracy Pierson wrote, ”The most likely of the four [which includes in-coming freshman Sharif O’Neal] not to return, from what sources are indicating, is Riley, due to not being in good academic standing at UCLA. Sources are telling us Riley isn’t even enrolled at UCLA for the spring quarter.” Well it looks like things have changed.
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Whatever the situation may be, if Riley is academically available, that is a huge boost for the Bruins and their front court.
Before the announcement, UCLA was expected to only have freshmen big men Jalen Hill and Moses Brown as the biggest front court threats. With Riley, they add some athleticism and offense which will be needed, especially at the power forward spot.
If we are to get technical, Riley and Alex Olesinski are the only power forwards on the team while Hill, Brown and (another incoming freshmen) Kenny Nwuba are all listed as centers.
Riley did not play at all last season (except for an exhibition game) due to a season-long suspension. Along with Hill and former Bruin LiAngelo Ball, all three were suspended for their involvement in the shoplifting incident in China back in November 2017 during the Pac-12 goodwill tour.
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With all of that behind him and a suspension served, we can finally see (pending his academics) the talents Riley will bring to Westwood. Welcome back, Cody!