Martin James Riley (born May 8, 1955) is a Canadian retired basketball player, who was on the 1976 and 1980 Canadian Olympic teams.
Early life
Riley grew up in Winnipeg as one of five kids in a single parent household. He attended
Sisler High School
Sisler High School is the largest high school in the province of Manitoba with over 1,900 students. It was built in 1957 and is named after William James Sisler.
Background
As principal of Strathcona School in the North End of Winnipeg, W.J. ...
, where he played
high school basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
for the Spartans, and led them to the 1973 provincial championship with an undefeated 38-0 record.
Playing career
University
Riley played
college basketball
In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...
for the
Manitoba Bisons
The Manitoba Bisons are the athletic teams that represent the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The football team plays their games at Investors Group Field. The soccer team play their home games at the University of Manit ...
at the
University of Manitoba
The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba. Overall, the Bisons were in the Canadian Championships four of Riley's five seasons on the team. In their 1976 championship season, Riley won the Mike Moser Memorial Trophy as Canadian University basketball player of the year. Riley was a First Team All-Canadian in three consecutive seasons from 1975-76 to 1977-78, and named a Men's Basketball Championship All-Star in 1974-75 and 1975-76, which were the two seasons the Bisons were in the championship final.
National Team
Riley was named to the Canadian men's national basketball team at age 17, when then coach Jack Donohue took a chance on him in 1973. That chance lasted seven years, as Riley played for Canada at two World Championships - in 1974 and 1978 - two
Pan American Games
The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...
1976 Summer Olympics
Events January
* January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 11 – The 1976 Phi ...
in
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
, where the Canadian team qualified for the medal round by finishing second in the group stage. But they lost in the semi-finals to the United States, and then lost to the Soviet Union in the bronze medal game, resulting in a fourth place finish.
Riley was part of Team Canada that came second at the 1980 Tournament of the Americas, which qualified Canada to compete at the
1980 Summer Olympics
The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...
in
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
. He was named captain for that Olympic team, but they didn't go to Moscow, as the Canadian Olympic Committee boycotted the Games due to the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. Riley remains disappointed at being denied the opportunity to compete in 1980, because he believed team was "good" and a definite medal contender.
Other play
Riley was a member of the Nicolett Inn basketball teams that won the Canadian Senior Men's Championship in 1979 and 1980. He played professionally in
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
during the 1980–1 season.
Honors
Riley is a member of five Halls of Fame. He was inducted into the Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame as an individual in 1995 and then again in 2007 as a member of the 1976 Olympic team.
Within Manitoba, Riley was inducted into the
Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum
The Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum is a Canadian museum in Winnipeg, Manitoba, dedicated to honoring the history and achievements of sports in Manitoba. The organization began in 1980, and then opened a museum in The Forks in 1993. Afte ...
in 1991, and subsequently two teams he was on were also inducted into that hall: the 1976 Manitoba Bisons team went in in 2011, and the 1979, 1980 & 1982 Nicolett Inn team went in in 2006. Riley was inducted into the Manitoba Basketball Hall of Fame in 1996. He was inducted into the Manitoba High School Sports Hall of Fame in 2011 for his play with the Sister Spartans, and the 1973 team that Riley led to an undefeated season is also in the Manitoba High School Sports Hall of Fame.
Most recently, Riley was inducted into the Canada West Hall of Fame as part of the 2020-21 Class.
Post playing career
Riley coached the Manitoba Bisons for three seasons from 1981-1984. After that he taught high school and coached basketball at Churchill High School, Dakota Collegiate and
Miles Macdonell Collegiate
Miles Macdonell Collegiate is a high school in Winnipeg, Manitoba that opened in September 1952 and is part of the River East Transcona School Division. It is one of the six schools in Manitoba that participate in the International Baccalaureate ...