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Yorkville Christian senior Jayden Riley is the 2025-2026 Record Newspapers boys basketball Player of the Year · Kendall County News - Shaw Local

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  Speaker 1: Yorkville Christian senior Jayden Riley is the twenty twenty five
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  Speaker 1: twenty twenty six Record Newspapers Boys Basketball Player of the Year.
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  Speaker 1: Written by Joshua well Olltt, this article is being read
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  Speaker 1: by an automated voice brought to you by Everlett. Jadeen
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  Speaker 1: Riley has a game that was born in his home's backyard.
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  Speaker 1: Home is where the heart is. The Yorkville Christian senior
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  Speaker 1: guard has a mid range game that would make an
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  Speaker 1: old school basketball fan swoon. Growing up, he played on
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  Speaker 1: a court in his backyard, but there was not a
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  Speaker 1: three point line. It was a concrete court of a court.
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  Speaker 1: Riley said, I wouldn't shoot in the grass, wouldn't be
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  Speaker 1: able to dribble in the grass. Dribbling and shooting on
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  Speaker 1: the concrete develop my game. Riley's mom, who raised him
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  Speaker 1: as a single parent after his dad was shot and
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  Speaker 1: killed when he was four years old, would have him
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  Speaker 1: watch videos of NBA guards Alan I Iverson and Stefan
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  Speaker 1: Marbury outside in front of the house. She would have
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  Speaker 1: me try this dribble like Iverson. I couldn't do it.
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  Speaker 1: I'd throw a fit and she'd say I was done.
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  Speaker 1: Riley said she would make me dribble the ball and walk,
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  Speaker 1: and I would have to touch the ground at the
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  Speaker 1: same time keep my hand on the ground while I
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  Speaker 1: was dribbling. I couldn't do it. She had me keep
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  Speaker 1: doing it. I did it a week or two later.
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  Speaker 1: Those humble beginnings molded Riley into a gem of a player.
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  Speaker 1: This season, he averaged twenty three points, seven assists, four rebounds,
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  Speaker 1: and two steals a game. He led Yorkville Christian to
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  Speaker 1: a twenty three to eleven record and regional championship first
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  Speaker 1: since its twenty twenty two state title team, and a
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  Speaker 1: sectional final. He joined Jaden Shutt as the only player
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  Speaker 1: to eclipse two thousand career points in a Yorkville Christian
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  Speaker 1: uniform and passed seven hundred assists. The SIU Edwardsville commit
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  Speaker 1: IBCA class to a first team All State is the
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  Speaker 1: record newspapers Player of the Year for the second concentcutive year.
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  Speaker 1: For a kid who is so hard to miss on
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  Speaker 1: the court, Riley does not crave the attention. Shy and unassuming,
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  Speaker 1: Riley didn't want anything special done to recognize his two
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  Speaker 1: thousandth career point before a home game. We acknowledged it
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  Speaker 1: and shook his hand. He was really embarrassed. Yorkville Christian
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  Speaker 1: coach Aaron Silvern said, he is such a good kid.
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  Speaker 1: I don't toss it out there. He's a good kid.
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  Speaker 1: My wife had the privilege of teaching him in her
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  Speaker 1: class and stressed to him that basketball is something you do,
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  Speaker 1: but not who you are defined by. He's kept such
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  Speaker 1: a level head throughout. Riley came to Yorkville Christian from
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  Speaker 1: Oswego High School his sophomore year. He did not see
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  Speaker 1: a basketball his first few days there. At his mom's request,
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  Speaker 1: a contract was drawn up that he was not allowed
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  Speaker 1: to touch a basketball until he got his academics right.
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  Speaker 1: He was not allowed to touch a ball or see
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  Speaker 1: a court until we got rolling with that. Severn said
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  Speaker 1: that was an eye opener for us. At Yorkville Christian,
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  Speaker 1: Riley reconnected with a teammate and coach that are like family.
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  Speaker 1: Assistant coach Ray Alford first coach Riley with the Oswego
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  Speaker 1: Panthers feeder program when he was in the third grade.
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  Speaker 1: Trey Alford, a junior, is his son. He would pick
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  Speaker 1: me up and take me to the games, come to
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  Speaker 1: the park and train me. He really did start everything
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  Speaker 1: before I started to get good, Riley said, he helped
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  Speaker 1: me learn the fundaments. It's a good relationship. He's playing
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  Speaker 1: the father role in my life, teaching me to be
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  Speaker 1: a man in the real world. Hard work and dedication
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  Speaker 1: were values that stuck with Riley. He was the first
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  Speaker 1: of five or six Yorkville Christian players that got to
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  Speaker 1: the gym at five thirty am before school to get
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  Speaker 1: up shots. It's those unseen hours that make him a
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  Speaker 1: great player. Suvern said. When Riley came to Yorkville Christian,
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  Speaker 1: he worked from the inside out. He couldn't shoot the
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  Speaker 1: ball from the perimeter, but was a great finisher and
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  Speaker 1: pass first guy. Over three years, he developed consistency with
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  Speaker 1: the three points shot and made thirty seven percent of
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  Speaker 1: them this year. He's so humble, Severn said. We'd tell him, kid,
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  Speaker 1: you are a shooter. You have to shoot that if
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  Speaker 1: they give it to you. He's at all three levels
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  Speaker 1: for sure. Excited to see his continued development, Riley could
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  Speaker 1: feel the games this year that he needed to take
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  Speaker 1: on a scoring load, and Severn put it in his ear.
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  Speaker 1: At the six oaight Tournament in Madison, Wisconsin, Riley broke
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  Speaker 1: current Charlotte Hornet's rookie Conwepple's tournament scoring record, and yet
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  Speaker 1: on the final play of the championship game, when the
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  Speaker 1: defense collapsed on him, Riley kicked it to Alfred for
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  Speaker 1: the game winning shot. He made the right play, Severn said.
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  Speaker 1: Even though he scored thirty seven, the assist that won
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  Speaker 1: it is what he's happy about. Riley is happy to
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  Speaker 1: hold up his end of the bargain with his mom
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  Speaker 1: and earn a college scholarship to pay for his education.
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  Speaker 1: Just getting the college scholarship means a lot, Coach Severn says,
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  Speaker 1: use that as a tool. I take that seriously, Riley said,
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  Speaker 1: I'm really just excited for the next part of my journey,
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  Speaker 1: wrapping Yorkville Christian repping my hometown Oswego. I'm excited to
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  Speaker 1: see where it takes me.