Grant Riller

Grant Lucas Riller (born February 8, 1997) is an American professional basketball player for the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association (NBA), on a two-way contract with the Greensboro Swarm of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the College of Charleston Cougars.

Grant Riller

Riller with College of Charleston in 2019
No. 7 – Charlotte Hornets
Position	Point guard / Shooting guard
League	NBA
Personal information
Born	February 8, 1997 Orlando, Florida
Nationality	American
Listed height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Listed weight	190 lb (86 kg)
Career information
High school	Ocoee (Ocoee, Florida)
College	College of Charleston (2016–2020)
NBA draft	2020 / Round: 2 / Pick: 56th overall
Selected by the Charlotte Hornets
Playing career	2020–present
Career history
2020–present	Charlotte Hornets
2020–present	→Greensboro Swarm
Career highlights and awards
3x First-team All-CAA (2018–2020) CAA Tournament MVP (2018)
Stats  at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

High school career

Riller played basketball for Ocoee High School in Ocoee, Florida under head coach Rob Gordon. He was called up to the varsity team in ninth grade after initially playing at the junior varsity level.[1] As a senior on December 28, 2014, Riller scored a school-record 53 points in a win over Leesburg High School in the finals of the Ocoee Great 8 tournament.[2] He averaged 29.1 points per game in his senior season.[3] Riller was deemed a two-star recruit by 247Sports and was not rated by ESPN or Rivals. On October 4, 2014, he committed to play college basketball for the College of Charleston over offers from Cleveland State, FIU, and Hofstra.[4]

College career

Riller (right) in November 2017

Riller suffered a knee injury prior to his freshman season and was forced to redshirt.[3] He was forced to wear a knee brace despite working all summer to get to full strength. In his collegiate debut, Riller scored 21 points against The Citadel. He averaged 13.1 points per game as a freshman, second-best on the team.[5] Riller scored 20 points and added four steals in a 83–76 overtime victory over Northeastern in the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament. He was named 2018 CAA Tournament Most Outstanding player and joined teammate Joe Chealey on the All-CAA First Team. Riller averaged 18.7 points per game as a sophomore.[6] He scored a career-high 43 points in a 99–95 loss to Hofstra. As a junior, Riller averaged 21.9 points and 4.1 assists per game and led the Cougars to a 24–9 record.[7] He was again named first-team All-CAA.[8]

Coming into his senior year, Riller was named CAA preseason player of the year.[7] On December 14, 2019, Riller became the third Cougar in program history to reach the 2,000 career point mark, scoring 21 in a road loss to Richmond.[9] On January 16, 2020, he recorded the first-ever triple-double by a College of Charleston player, with 20 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in a loss to Northeastern.[10] At the conclusion of the regular season, Riller was named to the First Team All-CAA.[11] As a senior, Riller averaged 21.9 points, 3.9 assists, and 5.1 rebounds per game.[12]

Professional career

On November 18, 2020, Riller was drafted in the second round, 56th overall, in the 2020 NBA draft by the Charlotte Hornets. On November 30, 2020 he was signed to a two-way contract by the team. Under the terms of the deal, he will split time between the Hornets and their NBA G League affiliate, the Greensboro Swarm.[13]

Career statistics

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field goal percentage	3P%	3-point field goal percentage	FT%	Free throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

College

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2015–16	College of Charleston	Redshirt
2016–17	College of Charleston	35	27	27.0	.486	.333	.798	2.1	1.2	.9	.2	13.1
2017–18	College of Charleston	33	32	33.6	.545	.394	.729	2.8	2.0	1.3	.4	18.6
2018–19	College of Charleston	33	33	35.5	.538	.329	.806	3.4	4.1	1.2	.1	21.9
2019–20	College of Charleston	31	31	33.5	.499	.362	.827	5.1	3.9	1.6	.3	21.9
Career		132	123	32.3	.519	.356	.796	3.3	2.8	1.3	.3	18.7

References

1. Collings, Buddy (November 27, 2014). "Riller hits thriller for Ocoee". Orlando Sentinel. PressReader. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
2. Jackson, Emilee (December 29, 2014). "Ocoee's Riller scores 53, leads boys hoops to tourney title". West Orange Times & Observer. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
3. Miller, Andrew (November 2, 2015). "College of Charleston's Grant Riller to miss season with knee injury". The Post and Courier. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
4. "Grant Riller". College of Charleston Athletics. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
5. Miller, Andrew (February 3, 2017). "College of Charleston's Grant Riller limping his way to success on basketball court". The Post and Courier. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
6. Ryzewski, Stephen (March 8, 2018). "Ocoee High alum Grant Riller leads College of Charleston to NCAA Tournament berth". West Orange Times & Observer. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
7. Miller, Andrew (October 9, 2019). "College of Charleston's Grant Riller is CAA preseason player of year, Cougars 2nd in poll". The Post and Courier. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
8. "Hofstra's Wright-Foreman repeats as CAA men's basketball Player of the Year" (Press release). Colonial Athletic Association. March 8, 2019. Retrieved March 8, 2019.
9. "Riller joins College of Charleston's 2,000-career point club in loss to Richmond". The Post and Courier. December 14, 2019. Retrieved December 15, 2019.
10. Miller, Andrew (January 16, 2020). "Grant Riller's triple-double not enough in College of Charleston loss". The Post and Courier. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
11. "CAA Basketball Announces Men's Basketball Postseason Accolades" (Press release). Colonial Athletic Association. March 6, 2020. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
12. Collings, Buddy (April 3, 2020). "Orlando area college basketball All Stars for 2019-20". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
13. "Charlotte Hornets Sign Grant Riller and Nate Darling to Two-Way Contracts". NBA.com. November 30, 2020. Retrieved December 14, 2020.

External links

• College of Charleston Cougars bio