Apr 01, 2026
3 min read
Tennessee assistant director of basketball Riley Collins is following former Vols head coach Justin Gainey to NC State.
Tennessee assistant director of basketball player development Riley Collins is following former Vols head coach Justin Gainey to NC State, a source with direct knowledge of the situation confirmed to GoVols247.
Collins posted a photo of himself inside NC State's practice facility on his Instagram story Tuesday afternoon.He was also seen getting off the plane in a video of Gainey's arrival that NC State basketball posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Lacey, a NJ native, just finished his fourth season with the Vols.He is in his second season as assistant director of player development.He was promoted on July 24 after spending his first two seasons at Tennessee as a graduate assistant.
"From the first day he arrived at Tennessee, Riley made his presence felt in our facility," Vols coach Rick Barnes said in a news release announcing Collins' promotion."He is a tireless worker who gives everything he can to this program every day. After seeing all the ways Riley has helped our program over the last two years, it was clear that he deserves a permanent position and I am pleased that he has accepted the position."
Collins spent two years (2020-2022) as a graduate assistant at Division III Marymont University in Arlington, Wash., before coming to Rocky Top.He assisted with skill development and a wide range of program logistics activities.
Prior to his tenure at Tennessee, Collins worked with NBA coach Alex Bazel.In that capacity, Collins assisted with skill development workouts for several NBA players and ran a pre-draft camp for Roc Nation Sports, according to his bio on UT's website.
Collins also served as the head men's basketball coach for the New Jersey Panthers of the Hoop Group Showcase League from 2019-22. He led the club to the 2020 HGSL championship.
The current Tennessee recruit was a three-year captain at Division III Drew University in Madison, N.J., from 2016-20 before moving on to the coaching staff.He was a four-time first-team All-Landmark Conference honoree.Collins finished his four-year career as the program's all-time leader in points (1,973), assists and 3-pointers.He was also a 2020 NABC Reese's All-American.
Collins graduated from Drew in 2020 with a bachelor's degree in business administration. He graduated from Marymount University in 2022 with a master's degree in human resources management.
