In high school, Justin Riley did not have to worry about a lack of attention. Riley was a standout player at Grove City, an Ohio Division I high school. College has been a different story so far for the wide receiver who walked on at Ohio.
I'm used to getting the ball all the time and being the star
Riley said. Then you go from that to nothing. You've got to start all over.
The 5-11, 190-pound receiver arrived in Athens in the fall of 2002. Riley took a redshirt that season and enters 2004 as a third-year sophomore, still without a scholarship.
Riley said that looking forward to the future and the progress that can be made helps him. He also said he realizes most players in college have to go through the same thing.
Most of them were a star on their high school team but they're not anymore he said. It's just something everybody's got to go through
I guess. Just keep looking forward to what you can do later on.
Ohio coach Brian Knorr said he recruited Riley in part because of his offensive abilities.
We felt he could come down and be a good offensive player for us
Knorr said. He works hard
and he has tremendous attitude
tremendous character.
After high school, Riley had options. He could walk on to the Ohio State baseball team, walk on to the football team at Ohio, or he could play football at a Division II school. Riley decided he wanted to play football at a higher level than Division II, and Ohio was the place that offered him that opportunity.
I think football (instead of baseball) had a big impact on my decision
he said. And I liked OU's campus a lot better. I've lived in Columbus my whole life so that's what I know. I like coming here and getting away from it all.
Riley said he is treated the same on the football field as scholarship players are.
In practice I get the same amount of practice time
he said. It just depends on how good you are and if coach wants to put you in or not.
The new offense that offensive coordinator Phil Earley has installed should help Riley see more playing time this season. The move from the triple option to the one-back formation will put more of an emphasis on the receivers.
I think that's a whole lot better than the offense we had previously
Riley said. We really were very predictable with the offense we had (last year). I think that this is going to give us some different stuff that we can use that people won't know about.
