Ruth Ellen Riley Hunter (born August 28, 1979) is a retired American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player (a center), playing most recently for the Atlanta Dream in the

Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is a women's professional basketball league in the United States. The league comprises 13 teams (scheduled to expand to 15 in 2026). The WNBA is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan. The WNBA w ...

(WNBA). Her Notre Dame team won the NCAA women's championship in 2001, and her

Detroit Shock The Detroit Shock were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. They were the 2003, 2006, and 2008 WNBA champions. Debuting in 1998, the Shock were one of the league's first expansion franchises. Th ...

team won the WNBA championship in 2003 and 2006. Riley was the

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particular competition, or ...

in the 2001 and 2003 championship series, becoming the first person to win the MVP awards in both the NCAA and the WNBA championships. She has also played on teams that won the

National Women's Basketball League The National Women's Basketball League, often abbreviated to the NWBL, was an organization governing professional basketball leagues for women in the United States. The league was founded in 1997 and began play in the Fall of that year. The leagu ...

(NWBL) championship, the

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

, and the 2010 EuroCup Championship. In 2019, Riley was inducted into the

Women's Basketball Hall of Fame The Women's Basketball Hall of Fame honors those who have contributed to the sport of women's basketball. The Hall of Fame opened in 1999 in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. It is the only facility of its kind dedicated to all levels of women's bask ...

. In March 2016, Riley participated in Mogul's IAmAMogul campaign for inspiring women to believe that they have the "power to shape the world through their voices and actions." She was the general manager for the San Antonio Stars from May 2016 until the team's sale and relocation to Las Vegas in the 2017–18 off-season. In 2022, she joined the Miami Heat front office as the Senior Director of Team Development.

Early life and education

Riley was born in Ransom, Kansas and grew up in Macy, Indiana. She has always been tall, measuring at birth, and six feet (1.83 m) by the time she was 12 years old. While attending North Miami Middle/High School outside Denver, Indiana, she was on the basketball,

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

and track teams. It was in high school that she began her practice of wearing a headband while playing. During her four years at high school she scored 1,372 points, acquired 1,011 rebounds and blocked 427 shots. She averaged 26 points a game as a senior, and had her jersey number (25) retired by the high school.

College career

In her freshman year at Notre Dame, Riley played in all 32 of the team's games, starting in the final 26. Thereafter she was the starting center in all but one of Notre Dame's games. She was a mainstay of the team in all four years, and consistently ranked high in the nation among women basketball players in field goal percentage and blocked shots. In both her junior and senior years she was an

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

First Team All-American selection. As a senior, she won the Naismith Award and was the Associated Press Player of the Year. In addition, she was the 2000-01

Verizon Verizon Communications Inc. ( ), is an American telecommunications company headquartered in New York City. It is the world's second-largest telecommunications company by revenue and its mobile network is the largest wireless carrier in the ...

Academic All-American of the Year for the University Division I. The highlight of her college career came in the 2001 NCAA tournament. In the championship game, Notre Dame was trailing Purdue, 66–64, when Riley scored the tying field goal. Then, with 5.8 seconds left and the score still tied, Riley drew a foul. She made both

free throw In basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points by shooting from behind the free-throw line (informally known as the foul line or the charity stripe), a line situated at the end of the restricted area. Free throws ...

s to give Notre Dame its final 68–66 edge and its first women's national championship. Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw, when asked about the critical play on which Riley was fouled, said, "It's the same play we've been running all season. It's called: 'Get the ball to Ruth.'" Riley was the Most Outstanding Player of that year's

Final Four In sports, the final four is the last four teams remaining in a playoffs, playoff tournament. Usually the final four compete in the two games of a single-elimination tournament's semi-final (penultimate) round. Of these teams, the two who win in ...

. The only player in Notre Dame women's basketball history to score 2,000 career points and grab 1,000 career rebounds, Riley was a two-time first-team Academic All-American in both 2000 and '01. In 1999, Riley led the nation in field goal percentage shooting 68.3% to become the first Irish player to rank first in an NCAA statistical category. Riley graduated from Notre Dame in 2001 with a degree in

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

, having made the

Dean's List A dean's list is an academic award, or distinction, used to recognize the highest level scholarship demonstrated by students in a college or university. This system is most often used in North America, though institutions in Europe, Asia, and Aust ...

every semester. She finished her Notre Dame career with 2,072 points, and school records for rebounds (1,007), blocked shots (370), and field goal percentage (.632).

Professional career

WNBA

On April 20, 2001, Riley was selected by the

Miami Sol The Miami Sol were a professional women's basketball team that was based in Miami and entered the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) in 2000. They played their games at American Airlines Arena as the sister team to the Miami Heat of the ...

as the fifth overall pick in the 2001 WNBA draft. She came off the bench for the first 12 games. On July 1, she made her first professional start, on the road against the

Los Angeles Sparks The Los Angeles Sparks are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Sparks compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference. The team plays its home games at Crypto.co ...

, and started for the rest of the season. Her second season (2002) was a difficult one. After playing well in the preseason, she broke a finger the day before the regular season started. She could not play for the Sol's first several games – the first time in her career she had missed a game because of an injury. She returned, playing with a splint on her hand, but lost her starting spot. During the WNBA's off-season, she played in

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. After Riley's second season with the Sol, that franchise folded. On April 25, 2003 the WNBA held a special one-round dispersal draft, in which the remaining WNBA teams could select players from the Sol and from the Portland Fire, which had also folded. The Detroit Shock, by virtue of having the worst regular-season record in the WNBA in 2002, received the first pick in the dispersal draft, and used it to select Riley. In Riley's first season with the Shock (2003), she was a key member of the team. She bettered each of her previous WNBA season totals in points, rebounds, blocked shots, and assists. The Shock, in a notable turnaround, went from a 2002 season with the worst record in the league (9-23) to a 2003 season with the best record (25-9) and a victory in the WNBA Championship. In the finals, the Shock defeated the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Sparks to win Detroit's first WNBA title. Riley was named the MVP of the WNBA finals. Riley continued to play for the Shock in the 2004, 2005, and 2006 seasons. In 2005, she was selected for the Eastern Conference team in the WNBA All-Star Game. In 2006, she was the starting center when the Shock won its second WNBA championship, defeating the Sacramento Monarchs. In February 2007, she was traded to the San Antonio Silver Stars in exchange for Katie Feenstra. The Shock also received the right to exchange first-round draft picks with the Silver Stars in 2008. The Chicago Sky signed the veteran 6-foot-5 center and two-time WNBA champion Riley, the team announced on Monday February sixth 2012. Riley was waived by Chicago on 5/23/13. On June 18, 2013, Riley signed with Atlanta after a roster spot opened up when Sancho Lyttle was suspended following her departure to play six games for her national team.

NWBL

The WNBA off-season was when the National Women's Basketball League operated. It provided a showcase for players hoping to make a WNBA team, and also attracted established WNBA players. In the fall of 2003, Riley joined the Colorado Chill of the NWBL. On April 1, 2005, in her second season, the Chill won the NWBL championship. In Riley's third season with the Chill, she broke her thumb in a preseason workout and missed the team's first 14 games. She returned to action on March 21, 2006. She played in the last four regular-season games, all of which the Chill won to finish tied for the regular-season championship. In the playoffs, the Chill won both its games to repeat as NWBL champions. Riley was named as the playoff MVP.

Spanish League

After the WNBA's 2005 season, Riley played for Yaya Maria Porta XI in the 2005–06 season of the Spanish League. In January 2009 she signed for Rivasecópolis, and played again in the Spanish League.

Polish League

Riley played the 2006-07 European season for Lotos Gdynia in the Polish League. This club was long the European home for fellow WNBA player

Margo Dydek Małgorzata Teresa Dydek-Twigg, also known as Margo Dydek (28 April 1974 – 27 May 2011), was a Polish professional basketball player. Standing tall, she was famous for being the tallest professional female basketball player in the world. She ...

, and also at one time featured another American WNBA star in

Katie Smith Katie Smith (born June 4, 1974) is an American basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Ohio State Buckeyes women's basketball team. She is the former head coach of the New York Liberty. A retired professional baske ...

Greek league

In January 2010, the Athinaikos club in the Greek league announced that Riley would join it for the remainder of its season. She replaced LaToya Davis, who broke her wrist. In April 2010, Riley helped Athinaikos to win their first EuroCup Women's Basketball Title.

International career

While in college, Riley played on the U.S. team in the 1999 World University Games in

Palma de Mallorca Palma (, ; ), also known as Palma de Mallorca (officially between 1983 and 1988, 2006–2008, and 2012–2016), is the capital and largest city of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. It is ...

. The team won the

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

. In 2002, she practiced with the USA Women's Senior National Team, but did not make the final cut to play in the Basketball World Championship. In 2004, she again practiced with the USA Women's Senior National Team and played in several of its games. She was selected for the 2004 U.S. Women's Olympic Team. In Olympic play, the team was undefeated and won the

Career statistics

WNBA

Regular season

, - , align="left" ,

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

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Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

, 32, , 20, , 25.0, , 47.5, , –, , 77.1, , 4.1, , 0.8, , 0.8, , 1.4, , 2.0, , 6.8 , - , align="left" ,

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, align="left" ,

, 26, , 8, , 20.0, , 46.5, , –, , 60.9, , 3.5, , 1.0, , 0.4, , 1.6, , 1.9, , 5.7 , - , bgcolor=#afe6ba align="left" ,

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

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Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

, 34, , 34, , 29.3, , 49.8, , –, , 76.4, , 5.9, , 1.9, , 0.7, , 1.7, , 2.4, , 9.6 , - , align="left" ,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, align="left" ,

, 34, , 34, , 30.5, , 44.6, , 50.0, , 81.6, , 5.9, , 1.5, , 0.9, , 1.6, , 2.4, , 11.1 , - , align="left" ,

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, align="left" ,

, 33, , 33, , 25.9, , 37.5, , 25.0, , 80.0, , 4.7, , 1.2, , 0.7, , 1.4, , 2.1, , 7.6 , - , bgcolor=#afe6ba align="left" ,

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

† , align="left" ,

, 34, , 34, , 25.8, , 45.6, , 33.3, , 88.9, , 4.9, , 1.5, , 0.5, , 1.4, , 1.6, , 7.3 , - , align="left" ,

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, align="left" ,

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

, 30, , 29, , 25.8, , 37.1, , 18.5, , 93.1, , 4.9, , 1.2, , 0.9, , 2.0, , 2.3, , 5.9 , - , align="left" ,

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, align="left" ,

, 30, , 3, , 19.3, , 43.4, , 32.1, , 85.7, , 3.6, , 1.0, , 0.5, , 1.4, , 1.7, , 5.1 , - , align="left" ,

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, align="left" ,

, 31, , 17, , 21.0, , 46.3, , 22.2, , 88.5, , 4.5, , 0.9, , 0.5, , 1.5, , 1.1, , 5.3 , - , align="left" ,

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, align="left" ,

, 20, , 2, , 13.1, , 53.7, , 20.0, , 80.0, , 2.3, , 1.0, , 0.3, , 0.7, , 1.0, , 3.8 , - , align="left" ,

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, align="left" ,

, 34, , 34, , 19.0, , 48.5, , 57.1, , 76.9, , 3.8, , 1.2, , 0.4, , 0.9, , 0.9, , 5.6 , - , align="left" ,

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

, align="left" ,

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, 33, , 14, , 14.4, , 37.9, , 27.8, , 78.6, , 2.4, , 1.0, , 0.7, , 0.6, , 0.8, , 2.7 , - , align="left" ,

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

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Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, 16, , 0, , 7.6, , 31.6, , 40.0, , 66.7, , 0.8, , 0.2, , 0.2, , 0.3, , 0.5, , 1.1 , - class="sortbottom" , rowspan=2 align="left" , Career , align="left" , 13 years, 5 teams , 387, , 262, , 22.2, , 44.2, , 29.7, , 78.7, , 4.1, , 1.2, , 0.6, , 1.3, , 1.6, , 6.3 , - class="sortbottom" , align="center" , All-Star , 1, , 1, , 14.0, , 80.0, , –, , 100.0, , 1.0, , 1.0, , 0.0, , 0.0, , 0.0, , 10.0

Playoffs

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, align="left" ,

, 3, , 3, , 36.7, , 42.1, , –, , 42.1, , 5.3, , 1.0, , 0.3, , 1.3, , 1.0, , 8.0 , - , bgcolor=#afe6ba align="left" ,

† , align="left" ,

, 8, , 8, , 32.3, , 38.7, , –, , 80.8, , 6.1, , 2.5, , 0.6, , 2.5, , 1.6, , 12.9 , - , align="left" ,

, align="left" ,

, 3, , 3, , 31.7, , 42.9, , –, , 73.3, , 5.0, , 3.0, , 0.7, , 2.0, , 0.7, , 9.7 , - , align="left" ,

, align="left" ,

, 2, , 2, , 27.0, , 41.2, , 100.0, , –, , 5.5, , 0.0, , 0.5, , 1.0, , 2.5, , 8.5 , - , bgcolor=#afe6ba align="left" ,

† , align="left" ,

, 10, , 10, , 22.5, , 38.5, , –, , 100.0, , 3.2, , 0.5, , 0.5, , 1.3, , 1.5, , 4.4 , - , align="left" ,

, align="left" ,

, 5, , 5, , 26.4, , 45.2, , 50.0, , –, , 5.0, , 2.2, , 0.6, , 2.6, , 1.6, , 6.0 , - , align="left" ,

, align="left" ,

, 9, , 1, , 17.1, , 21.2, , 11.1, , 75.0, , 2.1, , 1.1, , 0.4, , 0.9, , 1.4, , 2.0 , - , align="left" ,

, align="left" ,

, 3, , 0, , 14.7, , 50.0, , –, , 66.7, , 2.3, , 0.3, , 0.3, , 1.3, , 0.3, , 4.0 , - , align="left" ,

, align="left" ,

, 2, , 0, , 15.5, , 45.5, , –, , 100.0, , 2.0, , 0.0, , 1.5, , 1.5, , 0.5, , 7.5 , - , align="left" ,

, align="left" ,

, 3, , 3, , 18.7, , 45.5, , 50.0, , 50.0, , 4.3, , 3.0, , 0.3, , 1.3, , 1.0, , 4.0 , - , align="left" ,

, align="left" ,

, 4, , 0, , 6.5, , 75.0, , 100.0, , 50.0, , 0.5, , 0.3, , 0.0, , 0.0, , 0.5, , 2.0 , - class="sortbottom" , align="left" , Career , align="left" , 11 years, 4 teams , 52, , 35, , 22.8, , 39.3, , 42.1, , 69.9, , 3.7, , 1.3, , 0.5, , 1.5, , 1.3, , 6.0

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 1997–98 , style="text-align:left;", Notre Dame , 32, , -, , -, , 60.0, , -, , 74.8, , 7.3, , 0.7, , 0.8, , 2.2, , -, , 11.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1998–99 , style="text-align:left;", Notre Dame , 31, , -, , -, , bgcolor=#cfecec, 68.3*, , -, , 69.0, , 8.4, , 1.3, , 0.8, , 3.3, , -, , 16.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1999–00 , style="text-align:left;", Notre Dame , 32, , -, , -, , 61.5, , -, , 80.5, , 7.3, , 1.3, , 0.5, , 2.7, , -, , 16.2 , - , bgcolor=#ffcc00; style="text-align:left;", 2000–01 * , style="text-align:left;", Notre Dame , 36, , -, , -, , 62.8, , -, , 76.8, , 7.8, , 1.9, , 0.6, , 3.1, , -, , 18.7 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan=2, Career , 131, , -, , -, , 63.2, , -, , 75.4, , 7.7, , 1.3, , 0.7, , 2.8, , -, , 15.8

Community and global outreach

Nothing But Nets

Ruth Riley supports a number charitable organizations. Since its inception in December 2006, Riley has been a spokesperson of the UN Foundation's Nothing But Nets, a global campaign that saves lives through the strategic prevention of Malaria. Through her work with the Nothing But Nets campaign, Riley has made multiple trips to different regions in Africa helping to amplify awareness of the malaria disease. In August 2008, Ruth helped raise money for Nothing But Nets during a San Antonio Silver Stars 5k run/walk. As a result of her efforts, Riley won August's WNBA Community Assist Award in 2008.

"No Kid Hungry"

Riley was introduce to Share Our Strength at the NBA All-Star Jam Session. Share Our Strength is a national nonprofit committed to ending childhood hunger in America by making sure that children in need are enrolled in federal programs. It invests in community organizations fighting hunger, teaches families how to cook healthy meals on a budget, and builds public-private partnerships to end hunger on a national and state level. Riley, stopped by the booth to take the No Kid Hungry pledge and found out that they were launching an Illinois Initiative that March. She offered to help in any way she could and was subsequently asked to speak at their at the official launch. In the summer of 2012, Ruth, along with the NBA/WNBA joined with Share Our Strength to connect more than 50,000 youth to free meals in the summer across the United States.

Other activities

Riley wrote a

children's book Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...

, ''The Spirit of Basketball'', with co-author Paul Hickey and illustrator Christopher Hiller, that was published in 2005. According to Riley, the message of the book was "that basketball is the same no matter where you live or what language you speak". On January 26, 2005, Riley made her debut as a color commentator for a Notre Dame women's basketball game. , Riley was the vice president of the WNBA Players' Union. In 2009,

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

appointed Riley to the

President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports The President's Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition (PCSFN) is a Federal Advisory Committee Act, federal advisory committee that aims to promote "programs and initiatives that motivate people of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities to le ...

. In 2015, Riley was awarded the Moose Krause Distinguished Service Award by the Notre Dame Monogram Club. In 2018 she became one of the broadcast analysts for the

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern C ...

of the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

, the first woman in that role for the Heat. She is not related to

Pat Riley Patrick James Riley (born March 20, 1945) is an American professional basketball executive, former coach, and former player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has been the team president of the Miami Heat since 1995, and he also se ...

, the president of the Heat.

Personal life

Riley's height is variously listed as 6'4" and 6'5". She has said that she is "six-foot-four and a half to be exact" (1.94 m). In 2001, while playing for the Sol, Riley bought a home in South Beach, and returned to the area in the offseason even when playing for other organizations. Riley married Benjamin Hunter, another Notre Dame alum and varsity football player, on New Year's Day 2018.

Awards and honors

* 2× First-team All-American (2000, 2001) * Naismith Player of the Year (2001) * NCAA champion (

) * NCAA Final Four MOP (2001) * Sports Illustrated Player of the Year (2001) * Big East Player of the Year (2001) * Academic All-American of the Year for Division I (2001) * 3× Big East Defensive Player of the Year (1999–2001) *Edward "Moose" Krause Distinguished Service Award (2015) *

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

Women's Basketball Legend (2014) * Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World (TOYP) by JCI (2014) * CoSIDA Academic All-American Hall of Fame (2012) *Henry P. Iba Citizen Athlete of the Year Award (2010) *Notre Dame's Basketball Ring of Honor Inductee (2010)Notre Dame's Basketball Ring of Honor Inductee in 2010 ruth riley *WNBA Hall of Fame Inductee (2019)

References

External links

Riley's website

- on WNBA website *

- on USA Basketball website *

- on WNBA website
Riley profile for Lotos Gdynia

- profile in ''

The Detroit News ''The Detroit News'' is one of the two major newspapers in the U.S. city of Detroit, Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United S ...

''
Press release on her trade to the San Antonio Silver Stars
{{DEFAULTSORT:Riley, Ruth 1979 births Living people All-American college women's basketball players American children's writers American expatriate basketball people in China American expatriate basketball people in Spain American women's basketball players Atlanta Dream players Basketball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Basketball players from Kansas Centers (basketball) Chicago Sky players Detroit Shock players Liaoning Flying Eagles players Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Miami Sol players Notre Dame Fighting Irish women's basketball players Olympic gold medalists for the United States in basketball People from Miami County, Indiana People from Ness County, Kansas San Antonio Stars players Summer World University Games medalists in basketball FISU World University Games silver medalists for the United States WNBA All-Stars Women's National Basketball Association general managers United States women's national basketball team players 21st-century American sportswomen National Women's Basketball League players