Bill Riley Jr.

Bill Riley Jr. is an American retired ice hockey player and coach best known for his time leading Massachusetts–Lowell to three Division II Championships.

Playing career Riley played three seasons for Boston University in the mid-to-late 1960s. In his first two years with the Terriers the team finished in the top 2 in the ECAC both times and reaching the NCAA Tournament both times. BU finished as the National Runner-Up in 1967 but for his senior season Riley managed to play in only 9 of 32 games and finished his playing career after the season. Riley's time with the Terriers coincided with another future hall of fame coach, Jack Parker.

Coaching career Riley graduated with a degree in physical education and immediately put his degree to work as the head coach for Lehigh University. After only one season with the Mountain Hawks Riley left to take over at Lowell Tech who began playing College Division hockey two years earlier. Riley was warned bout outgoing coach Dick Morrison that Tech would 'Never be a winner.' but the 24-year-old Riley took the job anyway. When the NCAA tournament expanded to 12 teams in 1988 Lowell received its first berth into the postseason as a 6 seed, losing both games convincingly to Wisconsin. Over the next three seasons Lowell wallowed near the bottom of their conference and Riley resigned after the 1991 season in the midst of an investigation that determined he had violated NCAA regulations between 1987 and 1989 by offering lower than normal rent to players in buildings he co-owned. Lowell was put on probation for 2 years following the investigation and, though the team would eventually recover, Riley's coaching career was at an end.

Awards Riley was inducted into the Massachusetts Hockey Hall of Fame along with his late father Bill Sr. in 2006, the Massachusetts–Lowell Athletic Hall of Fame in 2013 and received the Hobey Baker Legends of College Hockey Award in 2017.

Personal life Riley earned a Masters in physical education in 1972 from his alma mater and a Ph.D in sports psychology in 1981. He is the nephew of Joe and John P. Riley Jr. and cousin of Army coaches Rob and Brian Riley. Rob's son, Brett, is the current head coach at Ferris State.

College Head coaching record

† Lowell was a provisional member of ECAC Hockey and only played a non-conference schedule.