On April 3, it was announced by EWU Athletics that Eastern Washington men’s basketball coach David Riley had taken the head coaching position at Washington State University and stepped down from his role at EWU. Riley was a part of the EWU men’s basketball program for 13 years and was the head coach for the last three seasons. 

Riley was a graduate assistant and Director of Basketball Operations from 2011-2014, an assistant coach for the men’s basketball team from 2014-2021, and the head coach from 2021-2024. Riley was named the Big Sky Coach of the Year in both the 2022-23 and the 2023-24 seasons.

As an assistant, Riley helped the Eagles win two Big Sky Conference Tournaments and qualify for the conference championship game in two other seasons. It was after the second conference championship and EWU’s most recent NCAA tournament appearance that Riley was promoted to head coach. 

During his time as the head coach of the EWU basketball team, Riley earned 62 wins across his three seasons and won two regular season championships. He also coached three players to All-Big Sky First Team selections and four players to All-Big Sky Second Team honors. While Riley was either an assistant or head coach, the Eagles never won less than 16 games. 

Washington State University’s basketball team is coming off of a 25-10 season in which they qualified for the NCAA tournament. The Cougars won their first game of March Madness 66-61 against Drake before falling 56-67 against Iowa State in the second round.

Eastern Washington and Washington State faced each other early this season on Nov. 27. Washington State was victorious in a fairly close game that finished with a score of 82-72. 

Riley is set to replace Kyle Smith, who left Washington State to become Stanford’s head coach. Riley, who has won either a conference tournament championship or a regular season title in three of the last four years, will look to continue his winning ways with his new team.