Cody Riley Heads to Slovenia Following UCLA Men's Basketball Career
One more departing Bruin has put pen to paper and will be heading overseas to begin his professional career.
UCLA men’s basketball alumnus Cody Riley will be traveling to Slovenia for the upcoming Liga Nova KBM season. The former five-year forward has signed with KK Rogaska for the 2022-23 campaign, the team announced on August 17.
Riley will join forwards Urban Durnik, Ivan Milicevic and center Luka Kraljevic in the frontcourt for coach Peter Markovinovič. It will be Markovinovič’s first season as the head coach of Rogaska.
Former Chatanooga guard David Jean-Baptiste will also be starting his professional career with Rogaska. The 6-foot-1 playmaker averaged 14.3 points per game in his final season of Division I basketball.
The Bruins’ departing class of players from 2022 have now all signed professional contracts across the world. Along with Riley joining Rogaska, Peyton Watson plays for the Denver Nuggets, Jules Bernard for the Detroit Pistons and their G-League squad, the Motor City Cruise, and Johnny Juzang will suit up for the Utah Jazz and their G-League team, the Salt Lake City Stars.
Standing at 6-foot-9, Riley played most of his time as the lone big at UCLA, but he will likely shift to a more traditional power forward role in Slovenia.
The 24-year-old big man made his impact in Westwood starting in 2018, all the way through 2022. Riley averaged 7.9 points, 4.5 rebounds, 0.9 assists and 0.4 blocks per game across the four seasons he played for the Bruins.
Riley redshirted his first year at UCLA, as he was suspended for a shoplifting incident in China in 2017 that also involved Jalen Hill and LiAngelo Ball. He was a regular piece of the rotation a year, later, though, and he was able to become a consistent contributor for the rest of his collegiate career.
In 2021, the former Sierra Canyon (CA) product played a major role in UCLA’s Final Four run. Matched up against Michigan’s Hunter Dickenson and Gonzaga’s Drew Timme, Riley made post play difficult for his taller opponents.
Coach Mick Cronin brought Myles Johnson into the fold via the transfer portal the following offseason. The introduction of the 6-foot-10 big man, as well as an MCL sprain for Riley in the season opener against Cal State Bakersfield, limited the veteran’s playing time on the hardwood in his final season wearing blue and gold.
In that 2022 campaign, Riley averaged 7.3 points on 46.2% shooting, 3.9 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 0.4 blocks per game.
Riley joins former UCLA teammates Thomas Welsh, Gyorgy Goloman, Alex Olesinski, Prince Ali and Jaylen Hands to have played professional basketball outside of the United States since 2017.
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