Eric Riley (born June 2, 1970) is an American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player who was selected by the

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Divisi ...

in the second round (33rd pick overall) of the

1993 NBA draft The 1993–94 NBA season, 1993 NBA draft took place on June 30, 1993, at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The draft had some talented players at the top, but injuries and personal problems hurt many of them. Chris Webber, Pen ...

. Riley played for the Mavericks,

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA) ...

Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. The ...

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves (often referred to as the Wolves or T-wolves) are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Divisio ...

and

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...

in five

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

seasons, averaging 3.1 points per game. He was an injured reserve member of the 1993–94 Houston Rockets who won the

NBA championship The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern and Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven series to determine the league ...

. Born in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

, he played for Cleveland's St. Joseph High School and then collegiately at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

. At Michigan, he

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Sports * Redshirt (college sports) Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically ...

ed on the 1989 NCAA national champion Wolverines team, and then was the

sixth man The sixth man in basketball is a player who is not a starting lineup, starter but comes off the bench much more often than other reserves, often being the first player to be substituted in, and the first to be used against the other team's subst ...

on Michigan's 1991–92 & 1992–93 Fab Five teams that reached the

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

Men's Division I Basketball Championship final game.

College career

In 1991, as a sophomore, Riley led the entire 1990–91 Michigan team in both rebounding and blocked shots. In fact, Riley was second in the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

in rebounds for the 1990–91 season. He earned honorable mention All-Big Ten recognition in 1991. On the Fab Five teams, Riley led all reserve players in

points A point is a small dot or the sharp tip of something. Point or points may refer to: Mathematics * Point (geometry), an entity that has a location in space or on a plane, but has no extent; more generally, an element of some abstract topologica ...

rebounds 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

and blocks. After being relegated to reserve status following the arrival of the Fab Five, he had the best game of his career in the Southeast Regional semifinals of the

1992 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The 1992 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 19, 1992, and ended with the champi ...

Professional career

Riley's draft rights were acquired by the

in a trade made prior to the

. Riley spent his rookie season on the 1993–94 Rockets, coached by fellow Michigan alumnus

Rudy Tomjanovich Rudolph Tomjanovich Jr. (born November 24, 1948) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. He won two NBA Championships with the Houston Rockets (1994, 1995) and coached Team USA to the gold medal in men's basketball at the ...

, who won the franchise's first NBA title. Though a member of the team, Riley was put on the injured list prior to the playoffs. Riley was waived on December 12, 1994 but was soon acquired by the

. During his playing career (1993–2004), Riley played for a total of five NBA franchises, as well as several professional teams outside the United States.

Later work

In 2009 Eric Riley started a non-profit called High Rise Foundation. HRF is a non-profit charity with the mission to mentor young adults through sports programs, sports clinics and academic tutoring.

References

External links

NBA.com page
@ basketball-reference.com

@ basketballreference.com
University of Michigan Basketball Statistical Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Riley, Eric 1970 births Living people AEL Limassol B.C. players American expatriate basketball people in China American expatriate basketball people in Cyprus American expatriate basketball people in Greece American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in Venezuela American men's basketball players Apollon Patras B.C. players Basketball players from Ohio Boston Celtics players Centers (basketball) Cocodrilos de Caracas players Dallas Mavericks draft picks Dallas Mavericks players Houston Rockets players Liaoning Flying Leopards players Los Angeles Clippers players Michigan Wolverines men's basketball players Minnesota Timberwolves players Roseto Sharks players 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen