David Riley (basketball)

American basketball player and coach

David RileyCurrent position

Title| Head coach
Team| Washington State
Conference| WCC
Record| 19–15 (.559)
Biographical details
Born|  (1988-11-28) November 28, 1988 (age 36)
Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Playing career
2007–2011| Whitworth
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2011–2013| Eastern Washington (GA)
2014–2021| Eastern Washington (assistant)
2021–2024| Eastern Washington
2024–present| Washington State
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
2013–2014| Eastern Washington (DBO)
Head coaching record
Overall| 81–53 (.604)
Tournaments| 1–1 (NIT)
0–1 (TBC)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
2 Big Sky regular season (2023, 2024)
Awards
2× Big Sky Coach of the Year (2023, 2024)

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

Statistics overview  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
Conference regular season champion Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
Division regular season champion Division regular season and conference tournament champion
Conference tournament champion

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c "David Riley - Head Men's Basketball Coach - MEN'S BASKETBALL Coaches - Eastern Washington University Athletics". Eastern Washington University Athletics.
2. ^ "15 Riley, David - Whitworth". Whitworth Pirates Athletics.
3. ^ Collingwood, Ryan. "After NCAA men's tournament berth, Shantay Legans leaves Eastern Washington to coach Portland". Seattle Times.
4. ^ "Eagles Gain Continuity in Hiring of David Riley as Head Coach". Eastern Washington University Athletics.
5. ^ https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/wsu-cougar-basketball/wsu-basketball-coaches-david-riley-kamie-ethridge-receive-extensions/
6. ^ https://fanrecap.com/coaches-clash-again-in-heated-rivalry-game/
7. ^ 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/
8. ^ Collingwood, Ryan. "New coach David Riley excited to take the reins of Eastern Washington basketball". The Spokesman-Review.

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Men's basketball head coaches of the West Coast Conference

* Mark Few (Gonzaga)
* Stan Johnson (Loyola Marymount)
* Wayne Tinkle (Oregon State)
* Ed Schilling (Pepperdine)
* Dave Smart (Pacific)
* Shantay Legans (Portland)
* Randy Bennett (Saint Mary's)
* Steve Lavin (San Diego)
* Chris Gerlufsen (San Francisco)
* Herb Sendek (Santa Clara)
* David Riley (Washington State)

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* e

Eastern Washington Eagles men's basketball head coaches

* Unknown (1903–1905)
* Nick E. Hinch (1905–1906)
* Paul Lienau (1906–1909)
* No team (1909–1911)
* Unknown (1911–1912)
* Albert Fertsch (1912–1916)
* No team (1916–1919)
* Vin Eustis (1919–1927)
* Arthur C. Woodward (1927–1930)
* Red Reese (1930–1942)
* Bob Brumlay (1942–1945)
* Red Reese (1945–1964)
* Ernie McKie (1964–1967)
* Jerry Krause (1967–1982)
* Joe Folda (1982–1983)
* Jerry Krause (1983–1985)
* Joe Folda (1985–1987)
* Bob Hofman (1987–1990)
* John Wade (1990–1995)
* Steve Aggers (1995–2000)
* Ray Giacoletti (2000–2004)
* Mike Burns (2004–2007)
* Kirk Earlywine (2007–2011)
* Jim Hayford (2011–2017)
* Shantay Legans (2017–2021)
* David Riley (2021–2024)
* Dan Monson (2024– )

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* t
* e

Washington State Cougars men's basketball head coaches

* John B. Evans (1901-1903)
* James N. Ashmore (1904-1905)
* Everett Sweeley (1905-1907)
* John R. Bender (1907-1908)
* Fred Bohler (1908-1926)
* Karl Schlademan (1926-1928)
* Jack Friel (1928-1958)
* Marv Harshman (1958-1971)
* Bob Greenwood (1971-1972)
* George Raveling (1972-1983)
* Len Stevens (1983-1987)
* Kelvin Sampson (1987-1994)
* Kevin Eastman (1994-1999)
* Paul Graham (1999-2003)
* Dick Bennett (2003-2006)
* Tony Bennett (2006-2009)
* Ken Bone (2009-2014)
* Ernie Kent (2014-2019)
* Kyle Smith (2019-2024)
* David Riley (2024- )

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Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball Coach of the Year

* 1964: Craft
* 1965: Motta
* 1966: H. Anderson
* 1967: Craft
* 1968: W. Anderson
* 1969: Johnson
* 1970: Johnson
* 1971: Johnson
* 1972: Visscher
* 1973: Visscher
* 1974: Killingsworth
* 1975: Heathcote
* 1976: Connor
* 1977: Killingsworth
* 1978: Brandenburg & McCarthy
* 1979: Gardner
* 1980: McCarthy
* 1981: Monson
* 1982: Monson
* 1983: McCarthy
* 1984: Allen
* 1985: Allen
* 1986: Starner
* 1987: Dye & Boutin
* 1988: Dye
* 1989: Davis
* 1990: Hofman
* 1991: Morrill
* 1992: Taylor
* 1993: Dye
* 1994: Abegglen & Williams
* 1995: Abegglen
* 1996: Durham
* 1997: Howland
* 1998: Aggers
* 1999: Abegglen
* 2000: Aggers
* 2001: Braswell
* 2002: Durham
* 2003: Cravens
* 2004: Giacoletti
* 2005: Durham
* 2006: Adras
* 2007: Rahe
* 2008: Bone
* 2009: Rahe
* 2010: Rahe
* 2011: Hill
* 2012: Tinkle
* 2013: Tinkle
* 2014: Rahe
* 2015: Hayford & Katz
* 2016: Evans
* 2017: Jones
* 2018: Decuire
* 2019: Linder
* 2020: Legans
* 2021: Simon
* 2022: Sprinkle
* 2023: Riley
* 2024: Riley & Smiley
* 2025: Decuire

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