Why Connecticut’s Riley Fox is ‘ready to make the next leap’ with Yale basketball

NEW HAVEN — Amid a new college landscape that Yale men’s basketball coach James Jones calls “upside down and backwards,” his blossoming junior star from West Hartford, Riley Fox, navigates the journey, finding balance before every step.

His approach allowed him to see a path to stability, a truly meaningful education, a lifelong network of resources, and yes, even the NBA.

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He admits that while the interesting features of today’s NIL money, revenue sharing and transfer portal capabilities are hard to ignore, it thrives in a great culture that promises a better future.

“One of the things that stood out to me when he was being recruited by Yale was how he talked about how the 40 years after four years of college basketball affects your life,” Fox said. “You want to set yourself up for success, not only on the court, but later when the ball stops bouncing, because eventually it will.

“While some of the money in basketball is pretty interesting right now, going to an Ivy League school with the education, the connections, the opportunities, the alumni and all that is also very interesting.”

So is Yale’s success in basketball. The Bulldogs have won either the regular season or the Ivy League tournament in each of the last seven years and have gone to the NCAA Tournament five times in the last 10 seasons.

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He believes it is his turn to play a bigger role in continuing that success.

Last season, he averaged 10 points per game and finished second on the team in 3-pointers with 45 while playing 18 minutes per game off the bench.

“I’m very excited,” Fox said. “Last year we had a phenomenal team (24-7, regular season champs) with a lot of great players, and I thought we meshed really well. Now with Samson (Aletan) and Isaac (Seliskar) leaving (via the transfer portal) and Nick (Townsend) and Casey (Simmons), we’ve lost four of our 5 seniors.

“It’s a lot. It’s going to be a lot more responsibility on me and my other teammates to put points on the board, get stops, assists and rebounds as they try to fill their shoes and move forward.”

To this end, he is busy working on his game. The 6-foot-6 Fox focused on his ball-handling skills as he expects to be more of a playmaker this season. He knows he has that ability because he not only set Conard High records for points and rebounds, but also had the second-most assists in a career.

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During his first two weeks of practice this year, he was consistently first or second in assists.

“It’s all about trying to be the best player I can be and being a better facilitator,” Fox said. “I don’t want to put too much pressure on Trevor (Mullin) or Jordan (Brathwaite) to do things so I can step into that role. I also feel like when my teammates go and find them for open shots, it opens things up for my offense.”

He also spent time this offseason working out with dynamic sophomore Courtney Wallace, whom he called “a pillar that will make a significant impact on the team this season and into the future.”

“He’s about 6-3, really strong and really fast,” Fox said. “Working out with him every day has helped me move my feet faster, be more physical as a defender and be able to use my strength and length to guard smaller guys who might be faster than me.”

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Fox also trained for several weeks in May and played 3-on-3 for Team USA at the Copa America in Honduras with teammates Jack Sullivan, Mullin and Brathwaite. This has helped him play better at an up-tempo game with lots of movement and has given him a great opportunity to work on his 3-point efficiency in competition.

“Learning different styles of basketball between the four of us and spending two weeks together helped us bond and grow closer,” Fox said. “Going through some adversity together helped not only build our character, but also built trust between us, which I think this year will show.”

He said he also worked on his body during his first two years at Yale, putting on “19 pounds of muscle,” which allowed him to improve not only his strength but also his quickness and jumping ability.

He’s worked on his 3-point shot because he wants to shoot over 40% even though he thinks he’s going to hit harder shots because he won’t be getting as many open shots as he has in the past.

Jones calls Fox a goldfish because he quickly forgets the last shot he missed, allowing him to be confident with each subsequent shot. Between that positive approach and the leadership role he has embraced, Jones sees a player poised to flourish.

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“There’s no doubt Riley is ready for the next jump,” Jones said. “He’s just a different person, older, bigger, stronger and more confident.”

Fox is confident that his decision to go to Yale will pay big dividends over the next few years as he earns league championships and the NCAA Tournament, securing a path to the NBA.

He said he was close with former Yale teammates John Poulakidas and Bez Mbeng, who were at NBA camps, and used them to confirm he was in the right place.

“They are such great role models,” Fox said. “Having guys that you play against every day and that you’re close to when you’re doing what you want to do and where you’re going is a huge resource. It’s huge for me. It’s huge for me to talk to them and get advice. You can follow their work ethic and how they play to get to where you want to be here.”

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This article was originally published here Why Connecticut’s Riley Fox is ‘ready to make the next leap’ with Yale basketball.