Riley is in his first season with the Elon Baseball program in 2027.
Prior to his time at Elon, Riley helped coach and lead a group of Wingate hitters that was among the best in NCAA Division II during his two seasons (2025-26) on staff. In 2026, the Bulldogs led the South Atlantic Conference in batting average (.338), home runs (94), RBI (523) and were second in the conference in doubles (130) on the way to winning 40 games and the SAC Tournament title.
Prior to his time with Wingate, Riley was both a standout player and undergraduate assistant coach at North Carolina. He played for the Tar Heels from 2016-18, batting .298 with 142 career RBIs across three seasons. Riley earned All-ACC Second Team honors in 2018 before being selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 14th round of that year’s MLB Draft. After a five-year professional playing career, Riley returned to Chapel Hill as a student assistant coach with North Carolina’s 2024 College World Series team.
“I’m excited to be able to come back home, move my family back to Burlington, and get to work,” Riley said. “Elon was my first college baseball game that I ever attended, so being able to come back and try to contribute to success here at Elon is something that is special to us.”
