David Riley elevated to head coach at Eastern Washington

Associate head coach David Riley has been elevated to the head coach position at Eastern Washington, the school announced Thursday. Riley has been at EWU since 2011, working his way up from graduate assistant to now the leader of the program.

“David has been an integral part of Eagle Basketball for years and so he understands the culture and the potential that this program has,” AD Lynn Hickey said in a statement. “He is a very bright young coach who has a tremendous work ethic and a heart for Eastern Washington University. We have just completed an outstanding season and we are confident that Coach Riley is the leader who can continue that momentum and success with our program.”

Riley has spent his entire coaching career with the Eagles after playing for former head coach Jim Hayford at D-III Whitworth in Spokane. After two seasons as a graduate assistant, Riley was DBO for one year, an assistant coach for six and then Shantay Legans promoted him to associate head coach this past summer. The Eagles returned to the NCAA Tournament in 2021, playing 3-seed Kansas closely before ultimately falling short.

“I am honored and excited about being named the next head coach of Eastern Washington University,” said Riley. “The past 10 years at EWU have been an incredible journey and I am grateful to all the current and former players who helped put me in this position.”

This is the second-straight promotion for EWU, who went with Legans in 2017 after Hayford left for Seattle. With Legans getting the Portland job earlier this week, the school elected to maintain stability once again by promoting from within.

credit to Eastern Washington Athletics for the image