With Earl Grant accepting the head coaching job at the College of Charleston less than two weeks ago, Clemson head coach Brad Brownell had a vacancy to fill on his staff ahead of the start of practice in early October. Richie Riley, who spent the last two seasons on Jerod Haase’s staff at UAB, was officially announced as Clemson’s newest assistant on the heels of multiple reports that he was expected to be the addition.
“Richie Riley is an outstanding young coach with a track record of success,” Brownell said in the release. “He has worked his way up the coaching ladder by having a passion for the game of basketball. This is shown in the way he recruits and builds relationships with student-athletes and coaches. He has a very bright future in this business, and we’re excited to add him to our program.”
Prior to joining the UAB staff Riley served as an assistant at both Eastern Kentucky and Coastal Carolina, with those Division I stops being preceded by a three-year stint at NAIA school Pikeville College in Kentucky. Also of note regarding Riley is the fact that he was invited to take part in the Nike Villa 7 program.
Nike Villa 7 connects assistant coaches believed to be on the rise in the profession with other coaches and athletic directors, the very people who could hire them in the near future as head coaches.
