Introducing Junior Player Riley Adkins By Kieth Shaner Welcome back my friends to another installment of The Break & Run Times… Today I am presenting a profile on a young junior player from Ohio. I have known this young man for several years now, back when he was tagging along with his father, and he would let his cue do the talking. He was polite, respectful, and quiet. He always had a friendly smile and nod for everyone, if you got a hello from him, then he was in a talkative mood lol. Now his cue is still doing the talking, but he does have some things to say to us, ladies and gentlemen let me present to you… Riley Adkins! Riley is from West Jefferson, Ohio. He began playing seriously at around age 10 under the tutelage of his father Dee Adkins. “I first started at my dad’s old pool room Player’s. He got me into it and showed me the right path to try to become one of the best in the world.” Dee Adkins is a past winner of the Derby City Classic Master of The Table (aka The All-Around Championship) and his path for Riley was a good one, as Riley recently took third place in the Junior World 9-Ball Championship in Austria! Riley considers
the World 9-Ball finish his most meaningful highlight to date, but I have a feeling there are going to be more highlights to come. Riley is not only an outstanding player, but he conducts himself as well as anyone. Junior or adult, amateur or professional, he represents himself, the game and the sport as a first-class ambassador. His favorite player is Alex Pagulayan. Riley says he admires Alex because he is a great person as well as a great player (no argument from this author on that!) and he is quite a character to be around. I got to witness Riley playing Alex at the DCC one year and wow, did he show great composure playing someone like Alex! He says that he has also been influenced by Shane Van Boening and Billy Thorpe. Shane of course has been the number one player in the US for the past decade and Billy, a Team USA member for the Mosconi Cup and holder of 3 banners at the Derby City Classic, hails from the Dayton area right here in Ohio. When asked about his favorite events, he names the Derby City Classic, when he was able to go before the changes which forced the event to have a 21 and over age restriction. The International Open, hosted by Pat Fleming in Norfolk VA, is his current favorite and it is a most excellent choice, as 30
