Why standout Tyrone Riley IV stayed at USF when basketball bluebloods called

San Francisco Chronicle​

3 days ago

A monitor displayed inside Malloy Pavilion was customized for Tyrone Riley IV as he toured the University of San Francisco.
This time on an official basis.
One side featured a throwback photo of his father and namesake and a list of his accomplishments at USF. The other pictured the slender high school senior swingman alongside question marks he since has supplanted: 26 points in his collegiate debut; USF's leading rebounder in 2024-25; All-WCC freshman team honors.
And USA Basketball invitee.
'He said he wanted to go up there and be better than me,' the elder Riley said though a laugh, and when the younger Riley saw his father's achievements. 'He just said, 'I'm going to break all that.''
The son of a former standout for the Dons turned sophomore standout on the Hilltop, too, Riley is among 33 participants vying this weekend for selection to the U19 national team. Joining the native Angeleno at training camp Saturday in Colorado Springs, Colo., were six other sophomores, top incoming college freshmen and top high school seniors.
A 12-man team will compete from June 28 to July 6 in the U19 FIBA World Cup in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Steady play and a versatile skill set showcased throughout his freshman season garnered Riley notice from USA Basketball, NBA evaluators and top high-major programs in the NCAA's transfer portal. But Riley stayed steadfast to San Francisco, noting last week before a workout on campus, 'I don't want to be another statistic or another player on any team in the country. They value me here, and that's what gravitated me back.'
A smiling, switchable 6-foot-6 southpaw, sturdier after his freshman season with locs maturing like his skills, Riley started 34 games for the Dons — posting 9.6 points on 50.2% shooting, 6 rebounds and 1.2 steals in 28.2 minutes per game. He's a clever cutter who explodes to the basket, comfortably finishing with power and finesse, who doesn't dominate the ball when he has it — decisively shooting, driving or passing. Defensively, he functions as USF's most imposing and versatile perimeter stopper, foreshadowing his all-around impact early last summer during informal and organized workouts alike.
Allow Dons head coach Chris Gerlufsen to explain: 'It's hard to find a player who — it doesn't matter who you combine them with on the floor, they just figure out a way to play and blend in. Tyrone has a unique ability where you can put him on the court with any other four players, and depending on what that group looks like, he's going to figure for his team to be successful. That's something he's well beyond his years in.'
No wonder programs such as Florida, Kentucky, Arizona, Texas, USC and UCLA — among others — inquired about his services this spring. Riley said 'that week' in the transfer portal 'was a lot of stress, waking up to calls and figuring everything out.'
Then, he solidified his standing at USF, where 'he always wanted to stay. … I knew he was going to play at least two years like me,' his dad said.
The elder Riley, a basketball coach at his alma mater Jordan High School in Los Angeles, first starred for Los Angeles City College before concluding college from 2003-05 at USF. Twice an All-WCC honorable mention as a 6-foot-7 two-year starting forward, he averaged 13.6 points and 7.9 rebounds in 60 games. He remains 12th in program history in 3-point percentage (38%).
He also played professionally abroad during his son's infancy in the rugged Los Angeles neighborhood of Watts, 'a crazy place. … They just think the worst of it, but it's where I grew up, where I call home and I love it,' Riley said of where he was born and raised.
Riley remembered watching his father play in the prestigious Drew League summer pro-am against NBA stars a la James Harden and DeMar DeRozan. Basketball and everything about it has long solidified their bond. Riley jokingly said, 'He's a bragger. He just brags about how good he was. He never really talked about what it took to get to where he was and all the sacrifice and everything.
'I just kind of had to learn that firsthand with my experiences and my sacrifices.'
Chief among them for Riley was football, a casualty of his commitment to basketball — fortified for good in junior high as his goals and work ethic crystallized. His primary youth team, the South Bay Mambas, embodied the mantra 'on and off the court' that since has reflected his longstanding academic excellence.
Said Riley's mother, LaTasha Gardner, classmates with his father at Jordan High, an armed security guard and a regular attendee of USF home games two decades apart: 'It was one of those — 'You're going to college and I'm not paying for it. Your mind is going to pay for it and your skills and everything else is going to get you to the next level of life. I can only get you the basics. You have to take over.''
A handwritten list of goals penned in elementary school still hangs from the door of his room at her home in Vernon, outside of Los Angeles. It begins 'My name is Tyrone Riley IV. I graduate college in 2028' and of the 15 or so aspirations he listed then, more than half are accomplished, they realized this spring.
Instead of playing for his father at Jordan — Gardner wanted to avoid the perception of preferential treatment for Riley while hoping he would be seen 'for who my son was and not who his daddy is' — Riley attended St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy, a nearby private Catholic school, though COVID-19 marginalized his first two high school basketball seasons. Still, as a college-minded underclassman who later would tutor his high school teammates, he attended USF's basketball camp, also watching with his father the Dons play Gonzaga at War Memorial Gymnasium.
There, he connected with former USF star guard Jamaree Bouyea and 'just built a relationship' with the program, Riley III said. Former Dons head coach Todd Golden started Riley's recruitment, which started in earnest with USF.
Gerlufsen intensified it, prioritizing his commitment.
'His dad takes great pride in being a Don and putting the jersey on and graduating from here,' Gerlufsen said. 'All the groundwork and foundation had already been laid in terms of what this place was. Tyrone already had that built-in kind of pride for the school and saw how much it meant to his dad. He's done a great job of carrying that same sentiment into his career now.'
High-major programs like Texas A&M, Cal and USC joined the competition for Riley's commitment while he flourished as an upperclassman, becoming a four-star recruit at one point. As a junior, he averaged 25.6 points, 12.5 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 2.5 steals per game, leading the Warriors to a 30-5 record. The ensuing spring and summer before his senior season — considered the most pivotal for basketball recruits as they continue playing before college coaches on the club basketball circuit — was filled with stress.
Literally.
An awkward landing during a club basketball matchup that May resulted in a lower right leg stress fracture, unbeknownst to Riley, who thought it was a bruise and continued practicing and playing through it.
Until he couldn't.
While running during a subsequent practice, he suddenly felt 'a weird pop sensation.' With it, he felt his right fibula break, his recruitment halt and uncertainty set in.
'For like a week and a half, two weeks, I didn't leave my room. I didn't talk to anybody,' Riley recalled, his voice trailing temporarily. 'I was just like 'This really happened?' … It was hard for me to get back to it.'
Riley's recruiting momentum slowed amid his absence from top tournaments, showcases and camps. He tried to play for his school in June at a scholastic recruiting tournament in Arizona, but his father saw him compromised physically and 'pulled me in the second game at halftime' in conjunction with Warriors head coach Donte Archie.
'A lot of coaches from that point, they just fell off of him,' Archie said. 'The only, really one school that didn't fall off was San Francisco. … I know it was always tough for him. We were always reiterating, 'Just keep going. Keep working.''
Riley attacked rehabilitation like USF attacked his recruitment: aggressively and assuredly. Without surgery and with his family's support, he completed four months of therapy in 2½ months, healing in time for him to submit a stellar and selfless senior season. That his ranking sputtered didn't deter Gerlufsen, who believed in and focused on his upside instead.
'Then, (the Dons) knocked the visit out of the park,' said his father, a regular attendee at Dons home games. 'The legacy (at USF) will last a lifetime. 'Go do something I did. Go do it better than me.' And that's all I really needed to say.'
Added Riley: 'I already told him, 'Whatever you did, I'm going to do it in a better fashion obviously. It's better for our name, but what I did is probably going to overshadow what you did.''
His NBA aspirations intact, Riley is due in 2025-26 for a bigger role in Gerlufsen's offense as the Dons aspire for another NCAA Tournament bid. But scoring isn't top of mind with USA Basketball this weekend for Riley. He planned to foremost funnel his versatility, defense and leadership into training camp.
Then, back to the Hilltop again to replace the rest of those question marks.
'It's his moment,' his dad said, 'but you know me — let's keep checking these boxes off. Let's keep working and get to the next check we get to. Coming where we come from in Watts, man, the kid is a straight-A student living in the gym. He's the hardest-working man I know.'