David Riley (basketball)
David Riley (born November 28, 1988) is an American college basketball coach and former college basketball player. Riley is the current head men’s basketball coach at Washington State University. Previously, he was the head coach at Eastern Washington University for three seasons.[1]
Playing career
Riley grew up in Palo Alto, California. He played college basketball at Whitworth University under Jim Hayford.[2] While starting for the Pirates, Riley was a three-time All-Northwest Conference first-team selection and finished his career ranked fourth all-time in points with 1,664 along with making four NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament appearances, including two Sweet Sixteens and an Elite Eight.[1]
Coaching career
When Hayford accepted the head coaching position at Eastern Washington, Riley followed as a graduate assistant coach. He would be elevated to director of basketball operations two years later, then in 2014 as a full assistant coach.[1] In his first year as an assistant, the Eagles were won both the regular season and Big Sky tournament titles en route to the school's second ever NCAA tournament appearance in 2015. After Hayford accepted the head coaching position at Seattle, Riley stayed on staff under new coach and fellow assistant Shantay Legans. Riley would be a part of a Big Sky regular season title in 2020, along with a Big Sky tournament title the following year for a berth in the 2021 NCAA tournament.
On March 22, 2021, Legans accepted the head coaching position at Portland and four days later, Eastern Washington promoted Riley to head coach.[3][4]
On April 2, 2024, Riley was announced as the head coach at Washington State University, replacing Kyle Smith, who had departed for Stanford.
In March 2025, the university extended Riley's contract for one year. Later that week, at the conference tournament, Riley taunted opposing players from the bench, yelling "airball!" when a player missed a shot.[5][6][7]
Personal life
Riley's father is an anesthesiologist at Stanford, his younger brother, Noah Riley, is an assistant coach for the Baltimore Ravens, while his uncle Mike Riley is the former head football coach at Oregon State and Nebraska.[8]
Head coaching record
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eastern Washington Eagles (Big Sky Conference) (2021–2024) | |||||||||
| 2021–22 | Eastern Washington | 18–16 | 11–9 | T–5th | TBC First Round | ||||
| 2022–23 | Eastern Washington | 23–11 | 16–2 | 1st | NIT Second Round | ||||
| 2023–24 | Eastern Washington | 21–11 | 15–3 | 1st | |||||
| Eastern Washington: | 62–38 (.620) | 42–14 (.750) | |||||||
| Washington State Cougars (West Coast Conference) (2024–present) | |||||||||
| 2024–25 | Washington State | 19–15 | 8–10 | T–6th | CBC First Round | ||||
| Washington State: | 19–15 (.559) | 8–10 (.444) | |||||||
| Total: | 81–53 (.604) | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||
References
- ^ a b c "David Riley - Head Men's Basketball Coach - MEN'S BASKETBALL Coaches - Eastern Washington University Athletics". Eastern Washington University Athletics.
- ^ "15 Riley, David - Whitworth". Whitworth Pirates Athletics.
- ^ Collingwood, Ryan. "After NCAA men's tournament berth, Shantay Legans leaves Eastern Washington to coach Portland". Seattle Times.
- ^ "Eagles Gain Continuity in Hiring of David Riley as Head Coach". Eastern Washington University Athletics.
- ^ https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/wsu-cougar-basketball/wsu-basketball-coaches-david-riley-kamie-ethridge-receive-extensions/
- ^ https://fanrecap.com/coaches-clash-again-in-heated-rivalry-game/
- ^ https://247sports.com/college/washington-state/article/washington-state-hoops-fireworks-go-off-again-as-wsu-beats-lmu-94-77-to-advance-in-wcc-tournament-246728647/amp/
- ^ Collingwood, Ryan. "New coach David Riley excited to take the reins of Eastern Washington basketball". The Spokesman-Review.