Staff Directory
Riley McGillan
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
Riley McGillan joined the USC Upstate men’s basketball staff as an assistant coach ahead of the 2026-27 season, bringing more than a decade of collegiate basketball experience across the Division I and Division II levels to Hub City.
McGillan comes to Spartanburg after serving as an assistant coach at Belmont Abbey College, where he helped the Crusaders make significant strides in a short period of time. In just his second season at “The Abbey,” McGillan helped the program quadruple its win total from the season prior, continuing his track record of player development, program growth and on-court improvement.
Prior to his time at Belmont Abbey, McGillan spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Lenoir-Rhyne University. During his tenure with the Bears, the program increased its overall win total each season, and McGillan helped coach a pair of All-Conference performers, TJ Nesmith and Nas Tyson. His impact was especially felt on the defensive end, where he served as the program’s defensive coordinator.
During the 2022-23 season, Lenoir-Rhyne set a school record for three-point field goal percentage defense under McGillan’s guidance. The Bears also posted their best scoring defense in a decade, holding opponents to just 69.9 points per game, the best mark in the South Atlantic Conference. Lenoir-Rhyne finished the regular season ranked in the top three of the conference in scoring defense, two-point field goal percentage defense and three-point field goal percentage defense.
Before Lenoir-Rhyne, McGillan spent two seasons at Longwood University as the men’s basketball director of operations and athletics social media coordinator. With the Lancers, he oversaw numerous aspects of the program, including practice preparation, film, data analytics, travel operations, academic oversight and general quality control. He also assisted the Longwood athletics communications office through social media strategy, digital content creation and department-wide social media outreach.
During his time at Longwood, McGillan helped the Lancers secure what was, at the time, the highest conference finish and most Big South wins in the program’s Division I history. In 2021, Longwood earned a berth in the College Basketball Invitational, marking just the second postseason appearance in the program’s Division I era at the time. He also worked with two Big South All-Conference selections, including Second Team honoree Juan Munoz and All-Freshman Team selection Justin Hill.
Across four programs in eight seasons as a staff member, McGillan has established himself as a strong talent developer, helping send 16 players to professional opportunities in 13 countries.
A 2016 graduate of Clemson University with a bachelor’s degree in sports marketing, McGillan also earned his master’s degree in athletic leadership from Clemson in 2018. He began his collegiate career as a student manager with the Tigers’ men’s basketball program before earning a spot on the roster and later moving into a graduate assistant coaching role.
During his six seasons with Clemson, McGillan was part of two 20-win teams and three postseason teams. After serving two seasons as a team manager, he earned a roster spot and competed for three full seasons from 2014-17. During that stretch, Clemson posted three consecutive winning seasons and reached the 2017 National Invitation Tournament.
McGillan returned to the program as a graduate assistant coach for the 2017-18 season, helping guide Clemson to a 25-10 record, a third-place finish in the ACC and a run to the NCAA Sweet 16, the Tigers’ first Sweet 16 appearance in more than 20 years.
McGillan also collected numerous academic honors during his time at Clemson, including Clemson All-Academic Team recognition, the men’s basketball program’s Academic Excellence Award and the Clemson Athletics Director’s Academic Excellence Award. He was also a four-time selection to the Dean’s List in the College of Business and Behavioral Sciences.
McGillan comes to Spartanburg after serving as an assistant coach at Belmont Abbey College, where he helped the Crusaders make significant strides in a short period of time. In just his second season at “The Abbey,” McGillan helped the program quadruple its win total from the season prior, continuing his track record of player development, program growth and on-court improvement.
Prior to his time at Belmont Abbey, McGillan spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Lenoir-Rhyne University. During his tenure with the Bears, the program increased its overall win total each season, and McGillan helped coach a pair of All-Conference performers, TJ Nesmith and Nas Tyson. His impact was especially felt on the defensive end, where he served as the program’s defensive coordinator.
During the 2022-23 season, Lenoir-Rhyne set a school record for three-point field goal percentage defense under McGillan’s guidance. The Bears also posted their best scoring defense in a decade, holding opponents to just 69.9 points per game, the best mark in the South Atlantic Conference. Lenoir-Rhyne finished the regular season ranked in the top three of the conference in scoring defense, two-point field goal percentage defense and three-point field goal percentage defense.
Before Lenoir-Rhyne, McGillan spent two seasons at Longwood University as the men’s basketball director of operations and athletics social media coordinator. With the Lancers, he oversaw numerous aspects of the program, including practice preparation, film, data analytics, travel operations, academic oversight and general quality control. He also assisted the Longwood athletics communications office through social media strategy, digital content creation and department-wide social media outreach.
During his time at Longwood, McGillan helped the Lancers secure what was, at the time, the highest conference finish and most Big South wins in the program’s Division I history. In 2021, Longwood earned a berth in the College Basketball Invitational, marking just the second postseason appearance in the program’s Division I era at the time. He also worked with two Big South All-Conference selections, including Second Team honoree Juan Munoz and All-Freshman Team selection Justin Hill.
Across four programs in eight seasons as a staff member, McGillan has established himself as a strong talent developer, helping send 16 players to professional opportunities in 13 countries.
A 2016 graduate of Clemson University with a bachelor’s degree in sports marketing, McGillan also earned his master’s degree in athletic leadership from Clemson in 2018. He began his collegiate career as a student manager with the Tigers’ men’s basketball program before earning a spot on the roster and later moving into a graduate assistant coaching role.
During his six seasons with Clemson, McGillan was part of two 20-win teams and three postseason teams. After serving two seasons as a team manager, he earned a roster spot and competed for three full seasons from 2014-17. During that stretch, Clemson posted three consecutive winning seasons and reached the 2017 National Invitation Tournament.
McGillan returned to the program as a graduate assistant coach for the 2017-18 season, helping guide Clemson to a 25-10 record, a third-place finish in the ACC and a run to the NCAA Sweet 16, the Tigers’ first Sweet 16 appearance in more than 20 years.
McGillan also collected numerous academic honors during his time at Clemson, including Clemson All-Academic Team recognition, the men’s basketball program’s Academic Excellence Award and the Clemson Athletics Director’s Academic Excellence Award. He was also a four-time selection to the Dean’s List in the College of Business and Behavioral Sciences.
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