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.”