June 11, 2013
University of the District of Columbia Hosts Press Conference to Announce Michael Riley as New Men’s Basketball Head Coach
WASHINGTON, DC – The University of the District of Columbia hosted a press conference in the UDC Sports Complex lobby on Tuesday afternoon, June 11th, 2013 to announce Michael Riley as the new head men's basketball coach.
Director of Athletics Patricia Thomas, while introducing Riley, said she was elated to have him on board as the school's new head coach.
"[Mike] will develop an outstanding rapport with the young men under his leadership. He is a mentor, and so he will guide them…he will make sure that they achieve academic success, he will ensure that they are viable members of this community, and that they go out and serve the community…"
"And I have no doubt that we will be very successful in the East Coast Conference and throughout the NCAA [Division II] as well…"
"Michael is a good, honest person, and I trust him with everything that I have, and I just know that he's going to do a tremendous job, and he's going to make this University very proud to have him as our head coach."
When Riley took the podium to address supporters and the media, he said his first mission is to build a program.
"When you take these [coaching] jobs, people always ask, 'Are you going to win?' These jobs are always taken by people who think they're going to win…I'm not any different," Riley said. "I think that we can win. But what I'd like to do first though is build a program. Build a program by putting things in that you know that you can do, and that you feel comfortable with. And that's what we plan to do."
Riley said the men's basketball program was very fortunate, under the direction of Patricia Thomas, to have joined the East Coast Conference in 2011.
"It's great to be in a league, because you know if you win [the conference championship tournament], you're in [the NCAA Tournament]. You don't have to worry about formulas or anything like that," Riley said. "So from that standpoint, the East Coast Conference is a very good conference, it's a very competitive conference, and we're very happy to be a part of it."
Riley concluded his remarks by explaining that his program would be built on the idea of sustainability so that the Firebirds would have the opportunity to win year in and year out.
"I'm not going to do a Joe Namath right now…I'm not going to predict anything…not going to predict a championship, not going to predict the NCAA [Tournament]…but I would like, as a coach here, to leave some mark, a positive mark. Something that we can point to and say, 'hey, this is the way we did it.'"
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