Riley Abercrombie was 15 when his family moved from his home country of Australia to the other side of the world.
To most, the life changing move to Houston, Texas, would have been overwhelming. But with the dream of professional basketball at the forefront of his mind, Abercrombie embraced it.
“Looking back now it seems crazy, but at the time I didn’t think twice about it,” reflected Abercrombie. “I loved that in America there was so much more focus on basketball. I always wanted to make this my life. It was always my determined plan to do this.”
At Clear Lake High School, the Aussie quickly took to life in the States. He helped them to the State Championship Tournament as a senior, averaging 12.4 points and 7.2 rebounds.
His performances earned him a place on the Boise State Broncos D1 roster as a Freshman in college as he continued on the path towards his dream.
“I loved college. You’re playing an unbelievable amount of basketball and doing so much work. There’s a massive system of people there to help you get better every single day. It’s a basketball player’s dream to be in that type of environment. It was huge for my development as a player and a person.”
Shooter’s mentality- learning to forget
Abercrombie continued to embrace different environments and circumstances throughout collegiate life, transferring from Boise to Rice University, and then to Northern Colorado.
That allowed him to lean on the expertise of multiple coaches, the experience of a plethora of teammates and the resources of elite sporting institutions.
He developed the mentality of an elite shooter, and the key to a short term memory on the court.
“As a shooter, it’s vital to be able to forget about your last attempt and to keep firing with confidence. That comes naturally to some guys, but to me it didn’t. That affected me early in my career because I care so much about playing well and winning, so misses would impact me so much.”
College basketball allows the opportunity for young players to lean on their more experienced contemporaries. In Abercrombie’s case, it was sharpshooter Justinian Jessup who gave him the key to maintaining a level head throughout a game.
Jessup played four years at Boise State, averaging 16 points as a senior on 39% shooting from three. His play saw him drafted into the NBA by the Golden State Warriors, and he now suits up for Ratiopharm Ulm in the German Bundesliga, where he scored 11 points per game on 40% three point shooting.
“Justinian looked like a robot when he shot the ball. Whether it went in or not, he’d have exactly the same reaction all the time, so I was trying to emulate that in my career. I wanted to be a robot who does that same thing every time, and doesn’t get too high or low. It’s made a big impact on my shooting ability.
“The idea is to get into where you shoot your shot with the right form and live with the result, but it’s hard to battle mentally and get to that every day. When you miss a few in a row you feel yourself start to get frustrated and you have to fight to get back to even keel.”
Abercrombie’s learnings from college are evident as he suits up in Riders red. He hit the dagger against London Lions in Leicester’s last game of 2024, his first three of the game after missing his last six three point attempts.
“When it comes down to close games, I’m hunting for the ball because I truly believe I can make that shot. Even when I’ve missed a bunch of shots in that game.
“I said to Jaylin [Hunter] before I hit the shot against London: ‘If you find me, I’ll hit a big one.’ I feel confident in myself in those moments to step up and make plays.”
Dominating down under
Abercrombie’s confidence didn’t just develop from his collegiate experience. He returned back to his home country in the summer to suit up for the Illawarra Hawks in the NBL 1.
He was asked to carry the scoring load for the first time in his career, and did so emphatically.
Abercrombie averaged 23.2 points and 7.7 rebounds per game, in a season that featured back-to-back 38 point games, five 30 point outings and six double doubles over 19 games.
In a confidence sport, Abercrombie’s summer gave him confirmation of his scoring ability.
“Australia was massive for my game. Going into a team where I had an opportunity to really score the ball and do things I didn’t usually get to do gave me the confidence that I can score at a high level, and do more than spot up and shoot threes.
“I can play off the dribble, get to the rim, and shoot off the move, so playing there and having the chance to put that into game situations really helped me.
“I’ve always believed I can do it, but I’d never been put into a position where it had to be me. Being in a place where the coach wanted me to score a bunch to help the team win was great for me. I did what I always believed I could do.”
The bucket got bigger for Abercrombie in Australia. Night after night he put up monster numbers, riding the momentum from his hot hand.
“Basketball is such a confidence sport. When you’re rolling you’re really rolling. It feels like you’re throwing grapes in the ocean.”
Landing in Leicester: “We’re in the business of hunting trophies”
Abercrombie brought the confidence built in Illawarra to Leicester, where he hit the ground running to log double digit points nearly every night from the jump.
It’s been a quick and happy transition for Abercrombie, whose dad lived in Stoke until the age of eight.
“I don’t think I could have landed in a better spot, with the people in the programme, the coaching staff and teammates that I’ve got. I’ve got really lucky with where I’ve landed and I’m super happy to be here.
“When deciding where to sign, a lot of things pointed towards Leicester. From seeing the way the UK has embraced basketball and how the league has grown, to hearing Coach Rob say a lot of things I liked meant everything lined up. It just made sense.”
This Riders group quickly formed chemistry, going undefeated in the Trophy Group Phase to start the season by playing fluid team basketball. In particular, Abercrombie and Ethan Wright developed a thriving off-court friendship.
“Ethan’s been great. I hang out with him every single day. We’ve been together all the time since we’ve got here, and he’s got a great perspective on life. He’s a smart guy, and listening to his professional experiences makes me appreciate how lucky we are to be in a great situation here.”
As the second half of the season fast approaches, the Riders look ahead to a momentous Cup Semi-Final matchup against Surrey 89ers in two weeks time.
Leicester, having already suited up in the trophy Semi-Final against Newcastle and falling heartbreakingly short, look to right those wrongs and progress to the Cup Final in Nottingham.
“We’re in the business of hunting trophies this year. We want to win as much as we can and make the most of opportunities, so the Newcastle Semi-Final really hurt us.”
The Cup Semi-Final, like the Trophy, will be contested over two legs- a foreign format for many rookies. The Riders narrowly lost the first leg to Newcastle and tied the second, seeing them fall out of the competition on aggregate.
“That gave us some experience on how these two legged games work. We drew the second game which is the first time I’ve drawn a game in my basketball life. Now we understand that we need to go to Surrey and put ourselves in a good position to come back home on Sunday and take care of business.
“We want to put ourselves in a position to win trophies and get ourselves to the top of the league. We had a decent start to the year but we haven’t played our best basketball yet and we’re learning more and more about ourselves and each other.
“I’m definitely looking forward to playing our best basketball the rest of the year and putting ourselves in a position to be one of the best teams in the country.”
Abercrombie is back in action for the Riders on Friday, as the team takes on Trophy finalists Bristol Flyers in the Super League Basketball Championship.
