Robert Riley Wallace (born October 25, 1941) is an American retired

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 ...

coach. He spent most of his career coaching

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

, and was the head coach of the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors men's team from 1987 through 2007.

Early life and college playing career

Born in

Alton, Illinois Alton ( ) is a city on the Mississippi River in Madison County, Illinois, United States, about north of St. Louis, Missouri. The population was 25,676 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is a part of the River Bend (Illinois), Riv ...

, Wallace graduated from Jersey Community High School in

Jerseyville, Illinois Jerseyville is the largest city in and the county seat of Jersey County, Illinois, United States. At the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 8,337. Jerseyville is a part of Southern Illinois, the Metro-East region and the St. Lo ...

in 1959. After high school, Wallace attended

Centenary College of Louisiana Centenary College of Louisiana is a private liberal arts college in Shreveport, Louisiana. The college is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Founded in 1825, it is the oldest chartered liberal arts college west of the Mississippi Rive ...

and started at forward all three years on the Centenary Gentlemen varsity basketball team from 1960 to 1963. Wallace led Centenary in field goal percentage with at least 8 attempts per game (.450) as a sophomore in 1960–61 and rebounding (222 n the season, 8.5 per game) as a junior in 1961–62. Wallace graduated from Centenary in 1964 with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree in

physical education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

Coaching career

After graduating from Centenary, Wallace became an assistant basketball coach at Litchfield High School in

Litchfield, Illinois Litchfield is a city in Montgomery County, Illinois, Montgomery County, Illinois, United States. The population was 6,605 at the 2020 census. It is located in South Central Illinois, south of Springfield, Illinois, Springfield, the state capital ...

under

Larry Little Larry Chatmon Little (born November 2, 1945) is an American former professional football player who was a guard in the American Football League (AFL) and the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Bethune–Cookman ...

. Wallace was also

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

head coach at Litchfield High from 1964 to 1967. In 1966, Wallace became head coach and would lead Litchfield for five seasons with a 69–59 record and the 1970 regional title. Wallace completed a

Master of Education The Master of Education (MEd or M.Ed. or Ed.M.; Latin ''Magister Educationis'' or ''Educationis Magister'') is a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. This degree in education often includes the following majors: curriculum an ...

degree at the

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United States. Established in 1867, it is the f ...

College of Education In the United States and Canada, a school of education (or college of education; ed school) is a division within a university that is devoted to scholarship in the field of education, which is an interdisciplinary branch of the social sciences e ...

in 1968.Centenary College of Louisiana Catalogue, 1970-1971
p. 109. In 1971, Wallace returned to Centenary College to be assistant basketball coach, again under Larry Little. He became head basketball coach and athletic director in 1976, then resigned midway in the 1977–78 season to be associate head coach at

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

, again under Little. Wallace remained in this position until 1984. From 1984 to 1987, Wallace was head coach at Seminole Junior College in

Seminole, Oklahoma Seminole () is a city in Seminole County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 7,488 at the 2010 census. Seminole experienced a large population growth in the 1920s due to an oil boom. History The city was platted in 1906 as a relocatio ...

and left with a 68–36 record, including consecutive 26–10 seasons. After coaching at Seminole JC, Wallace returned to Hawaii to be head coach. When Wallace took over the program in 1987, it had suffered through four straight losing seasons, including a combined 11–43 mark during the latter two years. He guided Hawaii to nine of its 12 all-time postseason appearances, including a school-record streak of four straight from 2001 to 2004. The Warriors appeared in the NCAA Tournament three times under Wallace and were invited to the

National Invitation Tournament The National Invitation Tournament (NIT) is an annual men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Since 2023, all rounds of the tournament are played at various sites across the country whi ...

(NIT) on six occasions. Prior to his arrival, the program had just one NCAA appearance and two trips to the NIT. Wallace announced his resignation following the end of the 2006–07 season on December 29, 2006.

Head coaching record

College

*Resigned in January 1978 to become associate head coach at Hawaii.

Junior college

References

External links

Wallace profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wallace, Riley 1941 births Living people American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Illinois Basketball players from Illinois Centenary Gentlemen basketball coaches Centenary Gentlemen basketball players Forwards (basketball) Hawaii Rainbow Warriors basketball coaches High school basketball coaches in Illinois Junior college men's basketball coaches in the United States Sportspeople from Alton, Illinois University of Illinois College of Education alumni 20th-century American sportsmen