In the pursuit of talent, the Hawaii basketball team landed a combo.
One of San Diego’s top guards — Beon Ja Riley of Cathedral Catholic High — has announced his commitment to the Rainbow Warriors.
Riley is expected to sign on Nov. 13, the beginning of the NCAA’s early signing period.
At 6 feet 6 and 230 pounds, Riley is multi-skilled as a scorer, rebounder, distributor and defender.
“He’s a fantastic player,” said Steve Wade, Cathedral’s head assistant coach and Riley’s AAU coach the past seven years. “He’s a big-time player. He’s a punishing guard. He’s outplayed tons of kids going to Pac-12 schools.”
Riley was named San Diego County’s Freshman of the Year in 2016. He was selected to the All-Metro League’s first team as a Mater Dei Catholic High freshman and sophomore.
When his mother changed jobs last year, Riley transferred to Cathedral Catholic. The California Interscholastic Federation has a wide range of restrictions for transfers. The organization ruled Riley had to sit out last season.
Riley remained upbeat during that “redshirt” year. “It was really humbling for me,” Riley said. “It gave me a chance to work out more, make more time for basketball, and get individual work. I worked on improving so when I came back, I would be better, a whole different player than previously.”
Wade said UH head coach Eran Ganot and assistant coach Chris Gerlufsen, who served as point recruiter, were diligent in their pursuit of Riley.
During the recruiting trip, Riley noticed, “I could really sense that they’re actually a family. You talk to a lot of these colleges, and they say, ‘Yeah, our team is built like a family.’ … But as soon as I stepped on (the UH) campus, I could tell it was really legit. Everybody showed me love. It exceeded my expectations, for sure.”
Wade said: “He’s the kind of kid that, after the fact, a year in Hawaii, people are going to ask, ‘How the hell did Coach Ganot and Coach G get him?’ They deserve the credit. They worked hard. They worked the right way.”
Wade said Riley is a “punishing, physical, tough, downhill, you-can’t-guard-me big guard. He’ll punish you on the boards. … He’s probably the most versatile player you could want. He guards 1 through 4 at an extremely high level.”
Riley averaged 15.4 points and 6.7 rebounds as a sophomore, but turned down scoring opportunities to distribute the offense. Riley said he prefers to “get others involved. It’s a team sport. Everybody has to eat.”