North Carolina State University Athletics
Staff Directory
Riley Collins
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
- Email:
- Phone:
- 919-515-3134
Riley Collins joined the NC State men's basketball staff as an assistant coach in April 2026.
Collins comes to NC State after spending four seasons at the University of Tennessee. He spent the last two seasons as assistant director of player development after spending his first two seasons at UT as a graduate assistant.
Tennessee reached the Sweet 16 all four years he was with the program, including advancing to the Elite Eight in the last three seasons.
In the 2025-26 season, Collins helped Tennessee to 25 wins and its third consecutive appearance in the Elite Eight. He helped Ja’Kobi Gillespie garner First Team All-SEC status while Nate Ament received Second Team All-SEC and SEC All-Freshman Team nods.
During the 2024-25 campaign, his first as a full-time staff member, Collins aided the Volunteers to one of their best seasons ever, as the team logged a 30-8 (12-6 SEC) record and reached the Elite Eight. Tennessee spent the entire year in the top 12 of the AP Poll, including earning 18 consecutive top-eight positions, five No. 1 overall rankings and placing fifth in the final release to tie the program record. Chaz Lanier and Zakai Zeigler both tallied All-American accolades.
Collins worked as a graduate assistant for the Volunteers during the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons. The Volunteers won 25-plus games and reached the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament during each of those campaigns, including winning the SEC regular season title and making the Elite Eight in 2023-24.
A native of Lacey, N.J., Collins spent two years, 2020-22, as a graduate assistant at Division III Marymount University in Arlington, Va. He assisted with skill development and a wide range of the program’s logistical operations.
Collins also has multiple years of experience as a basketball skills development specialist alongside NBA trainer Alex Bazzell. In that capacity, Collins assisted with skill development workouts for multiple NBA players and administered a pre-draft camp for Roc Nation Sports.
From 2019-22, Collins also served as boys’ basketball head coach for the Hoop Group Showcase League’s New Jersey Panthers, guiding the club to the 2020 HGSL championship.
Collins authored a stellar collegiate playing career as a guard and three-year captain at Division III Drew University in Madison, N.J., from 2016-20. A four-time first-team All-Landmark Conference honoree, Collins finished his four-year career as the Rangers’ all-time leader in points (1,973), assists and 3-pointers made. He also was a 2020 NABC Reese’s All-American.
Collins earned a business degree from Drew in 2020 and went on to receive a master’s degree in human resource management from Marymount in 2022.
Collins comes to NC State after spending four seasons at the University of Tennessee. He spent the last two seasons as assistant director of player development after spending his first two seasons at UT as a graduate assistant.
Tennessee reached the Sweet 16 all four years he was with the program, including advancing to the Elite Eight in the last three seasons.
In the 2025-26 season, Collins helped Tennessee to 25 wins and its third consecutive appearance in the Elite Eight. He helped Ja’Kobi Gillespie garner First Team All-SEC status while Nate Ament received Second Team All-SEC and SEC All-Freshman Team nods.
During the 2024-25 campaign, his first as a full-time staff member, Collins aided the Volunteers to one of their best seasons ever, as the team logged a 30-8 (12-6 SEC) record and reached the Elite Eight. Tennessee spent the entire year in the top 12 of the AP Poll, including earning 18 consecutive top-eight positions, five No. 1 overall rankings and placing fifth in the final release to tie the program record. Chaz Lanier and Zakai Zeigler both tallied All-American accolades.
Collins worked as a graduate assistant for the Volunteers during the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons. The Volunteers won 25-plus games and reached the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament during each of those campaigns, including winning the SEC regular season title and making the Elite Eight in 2023-24.
A native of Lacey, N.J., Collins spent two years, 2020-22, as a graduate assistant at Division III Marymount University in Arlington, Va. He assisted with skill development and a wide range of the program’s logistical operations.
Collins also has multiple years of experience as a basketball skills development specialist alongside NBA trainer Alex Bazzell. In that capacity, Collins assisted with skill development workouts for multiple NBA players and administered a pre-draft camp for Roc Nation Sports.
From 2019-22, Collins also served as boys’ basketball head coach for the Hoop Group Showcase League’s New Jersey Panthers, guiding the club to the 2020 HGSL championship.
Collins authored a stellar collegiate playing career as a guard and three-year captain at Division III Drew University in Madison, N.J., from 2016-20. A four-time first-team All-Landmark Conference honoree, Collins finished his four-year career as the Rangers’ all-time leader in points (1,973), assists and 3-pointers made. He also was a 2020 NABC Reese’s All-American.
Collins earned a business degree from Drew in 2020 and went on to receive a master’s degree in human resource management from Marymount in 2022.
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