Six Degrees of Separation
8/20/2010 3:24:43 PM
GUNNISON, Colo. – What separates Western State College and the NBA’s Golden State Warriors? A former head men’s basketball coach whose twin brother coached an eventual WSC graduate assistant and Division I head coach.
This story begins with Eric Seatvet when he first came to the Western State campus in 1975. While in school, he became a high school official, and during his last two years, the new head men’s basketball coach, Mike Riley, let him condition with the team ahead of the winter officiating season. Mike had a twin brother, Larry, who also became the head coach at Eastern New Mexico.
This opens up a unique tangent. Larry Riley coached Dana Altman, and Dana eventually made his way to Gunnison as a graduate assistant with Mike Riley. Dana eventually led Creighton to seven Division I men’s basketball tournament appearances and will be starting his first season at Oregon this fall.
Now we now go back to the Riley twins. Mike would stay at Western State until the 1981-82 season. Larry would guide Eastern New Mexico to become an NAIA powerhouse and take the Greyhounds through the transition to the Division II level before joining the Milwaukee Bucks organization in 1988.
Larry spent five years with the Bucks as an assistant coach and scout before becoming the director of player personnel for the Vancouver Grizzlies. He started the 2000-01 season as an assistant coach and advance scout for the Dallas Mavericks and moved to the Golden State Warriors in 2006-07 as assistant coach.
On May 11, 2009, Larry Riley was named the General Manager and is responsible for overseeing the team’s basketball operations, including trades, free agent acquisitions, contract negotiations, scouting the NBA Draft and other related matters.