#Long Island basketball prospect’s big chance wiped away by coronavirus

This was supposed to be a huge summer for Jordan Riley. The chance to prove he was underrated, that he was among the nation’s premier players.

Instead, the Long Island native has had to settle for Zoom sessions, phone calls and backyard training due to the novel coronavirus pandemic shutting down the AAU circuit.

“Jordan has decided to stay in public school. Had he done what everybody else does, re-class and go to a private school, he would be a top 10 in the country and a five-star athlete,” his father Monty said. “I know he’s a five star, I know he’s top 10 in the country.”

Riley, a talented and high-flying 6-foot-4 shooting guard at Brentwood High School rated as a four-star recruit by ESPN, was going to travel with the New York Lightning and play in the premier Nike Elite Youth Basketball League this summer for the first time. It would have offered him opportunities to showcase his talents in front of the top Division I coaches in the country after he averaged 23 points, 12 rebounds and 4 assists per game for the Suffolk Class AA champions and was named Newsday’s Suffolk Player of the Year. But the virus wiped that away. The rising senior hasn’t allowed the virus to stop him from working, though. Fortunately, his Bay Shore home has a makeshift basketball court in the backyard, and Riley has taken advantage, putting in up to six hours per day, he said.

“It’s given me time to work on stuff, learn new things,” he said. “Work on my left hand, get my shot right, ballhandling, getting stronger, quicker. It’s how to help my body.”

He has also become a mentor to several younger people in the area, training with them when he’s not working on his own game.

“I’m just working them out, trying to get them better, show them things I usually do in games and moves that I do,” he said. “I like to see them getting better, them having a smile on their face.”

Another downside of the virus for Riley is the inability to visit schools. It’s led to his phone, and that of his father’s, being inundated with calls from coaches. At the beginning it was fun, but it has grown tiresome. That’s one reason Riley is planning to make his college decision soon. He wouldn’t set a timetable, but it could happen this summer, before school starts in September.

Riley said being able to win, develop as a player and person will play pivotal roles in where he chooses. He has a final five of St. John’s, UConn, Kansas, Florida State and Georgetown and will be making his decision by the end of the week, his father said. The decision will come down to which school is “100 percent beneficial to Jordan,” his dad said, and which place will put him in a prime position to make an impact immediately.

One head coach believes he was trending towards being a top-100 recruit before the pandemic and thinks he could’ve exploded had there been an AAU travel season.

“I think he’s a heck of a player. He has a fierce toughness on the court, which I love,” the coach said. “Obviously he’s skilled. He reminds of an old school Big East player. Just a tough, hard-nosed kid. I love everything about him.”