Eastern Washington University head men's basketball coach David Riley is a finalist for the Joe B. Hall Award. Riley is among 15 other finalists nationally and the only Big Sky Conference representative. The award is presented annually to the top first-year coach in Division I college basketball.
 
Riley has been on staff with the Eagles since the 2011-12 season when he was brought on as the director of basketball operations. Since then, he served as an assistant and an associate head coach before officially taking over the helm on March 25, 2021 and just concluded his 11^th season overall at Eastern Washington.
 
In his first season, Riley hit the ground running by hiring an entirely new staff and bringing in 12 newcomers. Riley guided the Eagles to an 18-16 overall record and an 11-9 mark in Big Sky play. It marked the eighth-straight winning season for Eastern Washington and the eighth-straight season with at least 10 conference victories. The Eagles won seven of their last eight regular season games.
 
The Eagles also advanced to the postseason for the eighth time in program history, participating in The Basketball Classic a week after appearing in the Big Sky quarterfinals where they lost to Northern Colorado by a point. Eastern Washington also had marquee wins over Washington State and an overtime victory to eventual Big Sky champions, Montana State.
 
Riley coached Steele Venters and Linton Acliese III to All-Big Sky Second Team honors along with the Big Sky Freshman of the Year, Ethan Price. Under Riley's tutelage, four Eagles ranked in the top-20 all season in points per game in the Big Sky Conference and EWU also led the league in assists per game.  
 
MORE ON JOE B. HALL: A longtime Kentucky assistant, Joe B. Hall was given the task of following the legendary Adolph Rupp at the school. In his first season, Hall finished 20-8, won the SEC and advanced to the NCAA Regional Finals. Hall coached the Wildcats from 1972 to 1985. He won two-thirds of his games (297-100), received four SEC Coach of the Year honors and won a National Championship in 1978. He also steered the program to two other Final Fours, won eight Southeastern Conference regular season championships and one Southeastern Conference tournament championship (1984). Joe B. Hall passed away on Jan. 15, 2022,at the age of 93.
 
2021-22 JOE B. HALL AWARD FINALISTS
 
Speedy Claxton        Hofstra
Hubert Davis             North Carolina
Gerald Gillion            Chicago State
Kevin Kruger             UNLV
Tommy Lloyd            Arizona
Steve Lutz                 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Tony Madlock           South Carolina State
Jordan Mincy            Jacksonville
Kyle Neptune            Fordham
David Riley              Eastern Washington
Levell Sanders         Binghamton
Brette Tanner           Abilene Christian
Drew Valentine         Loyola Chicago
Chris Victor               Seattle
Mike Woodson         Indiana