Richie Riley
	Last College: Eastern Kentucky Position: Assistant Coach

I think Richie Riley is one of the better recruiters in our league. I like what he has done with our team, the way he relates to our players and the way he demonstrates his coaching skills. - Cliff Ellis

Richie Riley recently finished his second season as an assistant coach for the Coastal Carolina University men's basketball program.

Riley's arrival at Coastal Carolina helped jumpstart a program on the verge of notoriety. His influence played a major role in taking the program to heights and his insight is expected to help maintain the Chanticleers as one of the top teams in the Big South.

Riley provided an immediate impact for Coastal and helped lead the Chants to a record of 28-7 and a 15-3 mark inside the league to set new schools records for both overall victories and conference wins in a season. Coastal capped its season with a berth in the NIT to reach the postseason for the first time since 1993.

The Chanticleers won the Big South regular season title and finished runners-up in the Big South Tournament.

Riley also experienced success on an individual level by helping three Chanticleers earn All-Big South accolades in 2010. Senior forward Joseph Harris was named to the All-Big South first team after averaging 14.4 points and 9.7 rebounds per game. Harris rewrote the record books during his time at Coastal and finished his career as the Chanticleer all-time leader in rebounds, blocked shots, field-goal percentage and games played.

Harris is also the only player in the history of the Big South with 1,000 points, 1,000 rebounds, 200 steals and 100 blocked shots.

Junior Chad Gray was also selected to the All-Big South first team after ranking seventh in the league and leading the team with 14.3 points per game. Riley also helped Kierre Greenwood land on the Big South All-Freshman Team following a season that saw Greenwood average 9.1 points per game and rank eighth in the conference with 3.34 assists per game.

Coastal proved to be one of the top defensive teams in the country under Riley's tutelage. The Chanticleers ranked first in the nation in three-point field goal defense by limiting opponents to a .275 shooting percentage from beyond the arc. Coastal also stood fifth in the NCAA in field goal percentage defense by holding teams to just 38.2 percent shooting from the field.

Coastal Carolina continued to enjoy success with Riley on the sidelines in 2010-11, as Riely helped Coastal Carolina to its second straight trip to the NIT after earning an automatic bid by winning the Big South regular season title with a school-record 16-2 mark inside the conference. The Chanticleers opened league play with 15 straight victories and went on to set an all-time Big South record for conference wins in a season.

It was the second straight season that Coastal Carolina has captured the Big South regular season title and the first time since the 1990 and 1991 seasons that the Chanticleers have won consecutive league titles.

The Chanticleers were also a perfect 9-0 on the road in conference last season and became just the second team in league history to accomplish that feat. In addition, the Chants were also the first team in conference history to win five Big South road games by at least 20 points. Coastal won by 22 at VMI (Jan. 6), 21 at UNC Asheville (Jan. 20), 24 at High Point (Jan. 27), 23 at Radford (Jan. 29) and 20 at Presbyterian (Feb. 10).

Coastal Carolina is also the first team in Big South history to win at least 25 games in back-to-back seasons and also now owns the conference record for the most wins in consecutive seasons with 56.

Riley once again helped Gray land on the Big South All-Conference first team and watched as Sam McLaurin set a Coastal Carolina single-season record with 60 blocked shots.

Riley joined the Chanticleer staff after spending three seasons at Pikeville College in Pikeville, Ky. Riley was the associate head coach for the Bears for the 2008-09 season and was the recruiting coordinator for three seasons.

While at Pikeville, Riley helped guide the Bears to a 42-21 mark in two seasons. The Bears' 2007 and 2008 recruiting classes were rated in the top-five in the nation at the NAIA level by RecruitingRumors.com and the Victory Sports Network. The classes included 11 NCAA Division I transfers and five Kentucky high school players. Riley was recognized for his recruiting abilities by being named the Top NAIA Assistant Coach by the RecruitingRumors.com website.

Riley was an assistant coach at the University of Hawai'i-Pacific for the 2005-06 season and was a volunteer assistant coach at Georgetown (Ky.) College for two seasons (2003-05).

Riley earned his bachelor's degree in special education with a minor in English from Eastern Kentucky in 2005. Riley played one season at Eastern Kentucky for then-head coach Travis Ford, who now is the head men's basketball coach at Oklahoma State.

Riley is maried to the former Jess Lovell of Pikeville, Ky.