Men's Basketball | 5/9/2023 2:44:00 PM

Utah Tech head men's basketball coach Jon Judkins announced on Tuesday the signing of Hawai'i transfer Beon Riley to a financial aid agreement ahead of the upcoming 2023-24 season. Riley played three seasons with the Rainbow Warrior program and has two years of eligibility remaining.  

"We are very excited to be adding Beon to our program, he brings maturity, work ethic, and leadership to our team," Coach Judkins said. "He has improved every year and we are looking for him to take another step forward with us. His physicality and versatility on the floor should be a perfect fit in our talented and tough conference."
 
The 6-6 guard averaged 4.6 points on 40.0 percent shooting and 3.7 rebounds in 30 games off the bench at UH last season. Riley scored in double figures in four of those outings, which included a career-high 13 points against both Saint Francis (12/11) and SMU (12/25) last December. 
 
The junior-to-be just missed his first collegiate double-double when he tallied a career-high nine rebounds vs. Saint Francis, and had two more close calls in games at UNLV (12 pts/8 rbs, 12/7) and in Big West play at Cal State Fullerton (11 pts/8 rbs, 1/7).  
 
Riley played in 23 games as a reserve as a COVID-freshman during the 2021-22 season and average 2.8 points and 2.5 rebounds in 12.1 minutes per game. He also saw time in 12 games as a true freshman in the 2020-21 campaign and tallied a season-high three points at CSU Bakersfield (1/16/21). 

Riley prepped at Cathedral Catholic High School in San Diego, Calif., where he was a first team all-CIF selection and named Western League MVP after averaging 13.1 points and 7.0 rebounds during his senior season. He also played two seasons at Mater Dei HS, where he averaged 15.4 points, 6.7 rebounds and 3.3 assists in helping lead MDHS to a pair of league titles, and was named 2017 San Diego County Freshman of the Year. 
 
Riley is Utah Tech's fourth signee ahead next season, joining prep guards Angelo Kambala (Las Vegas, Nev./Liberty HS) and Aric Demings (Desoto, Texas/Davenport HS), along with prep swingman Tennessee Rainwater (Davenport, Wash./Davenport HS) as members of the Trailblazers' talented 2022-23 signing class.

Why Beon Riley chose Utah Tech – "I chose Utah Tech because of the great coaching staff and I felt like we could be very successful there. The facilities were very nice and I could tell they take recovery and development seriously. The campus was also very beautiful and the business building (I am a business management major) was very nice. I grew closer to the coaching staff over the 2 1/2 days I was there with my mother and they all seemed very genuine. Also, I am a little closer to home so my family could catch a lot more games. 
        "Coach Judkins during our one-on-one meeting also expressed how much they wanted me and loved what I brought to the table. I felt like it was the right fit and I could see myself going there. Also, Coach Johnson has been my guy for a couple of years now and I enjoyed having him by my side when I was in Hawai'i. Coach Morris and Coach Schroeder were also very helpful in the process and answered all of my many questions without sugarcoating anything. I felt like the coaching staff would push me every day to become the best player I could be and I overall felt like I was part of their family during my official visit. 
        "Also, the people were very nice and welcoming, I talked to Noah [Gonsalves] and Isaiah [Pope] and they had nothing but high praises for the program and St. George. I also loved the idea of playing in one of the quickest-growing cities in the country!"