First reported by Tennessee’s On3 site, Riley Collins, Tennessee basketball’s assistant director of player development, boarded the flight to Raleigh on Tuesday with Justin Gainey.
Riley Collins, Tennessee basketball’s assistant director of player development, will be part of Justin Gainey’s staff at NC State.
Joined the #Vols staff in 2022 as a GA, promoted in 2024.
🔗https://t.co/JGHsgwMWoE pic.twitter.com/yo043vdNfz
— @GrantRamey (@GrantRamey) April 1, 2026
So who is he?
Collins has been with Tennessee for four years, with two of them being as a full-time staff member.
Like Gainey, he has a good basketball pedigree. He played college basketball at Drew University (DIII). Collins graduated in 2020 with a degree in business. As a 6-foot guard and three-year team captain, he became Drew University’s all-time leading scorer with 1,973 career points. He also ranks as the program’s all-time leader in assists and three-pointers made. Collins earned four-time First Team All-Landmark Conference honors, was named a 2020 NABC Reese’s All-American, and received the team MVP award for the 2019-20 season.
After his playing career, Collins began his coaching path.
From 2020 to 2022 he served as a graduate assistant at Marymount University (Division III) in Arlington, Virginia, where he focused on skill development and program operations. During this period, he also worked as a basketball skills development specialist alongside NBA trainer Alex Bazzell. In that role, he conducted individual workouts for professional players and helped run a pre-draft camp for Roc Nation Sports.
From 2019 to 2022, Collins served as head coach of the New Jersey Panthers in the Hoop Group Showcase League. He led the team to the league championship in 2020.
Collins joined the University of Tennessee staff in the summer of 2022 as a graduate assistant while pursuing a master’s degree in Human Resource Management. He was promoted to Assistant Director of Player Development in July 2024.
In this position, Collins handles individual player workouts, skill development sessions, and on-court improvement work. He also assists with in-game video review for coaches’ challenges. Head coach Rick Barnes has described him as a tireless worker who contributes daily to the program.
“From the first day he arrived at Tennessee, Riley has made his presence felt within our facility. He is a tireless worker who gives this program everything he can each day.” said Barnes.
Riley will likely be given one of the full-time assistant roles on Gainey’s staff. Follw him at @coachRCollins4.
