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Q&A: Former ENMU coach Riley enjoying Warrior creation

Considered to be the "architect" behind the Golden State Warriors' two recent NBA titles — and counting, Director of Scouting and former General Manager Larry Riley is a pretty popular man around NBA circles these days.

However, before Riley broke into the NBA as a scout for the Milwaukee Bucks in 1988, he was the man responsible for leading the Eastern New Mexico Greyhounds men's basketball team as their head coach from 1978-88.

In his time as coach, Riley helped the program transition from NAIA to NCAA Division II status, where he led the Hounds to five postseason appearances. This past September, the school inducted Riley into its athletic Hall of honors.

The Warriors begin the season at home Oct. 17 against the Houston Rockets.

The News: How often do you return to Eastern New Mexico University and what is your greatest memory from your time there?

Larry Riley: It's varied. It hasn't been anything exact - I'd say probably three times in the last 10 years. From time to time, I get that feeling that I want to get back and visit people. I was here three summers ago, two summers ago and this past fall. Hopefully (in the future), I can make it once every summer or every other summer. As for my greatest memory, I really think it's just the players I had and the kind of people they have become.

TN: How would you rate the state of ENMU men's basketball in the present day?

LR: As I recall, you have a second year coach (Tres Segler) there, and it looked like they had a good second-half of the season last year. As a fan, I'm just hoping for a good season this year. I live in Chandler, Arizona and I'm hoping to see Eastern play this year. They've got early games against Arizona Christian and Arizona and I might be able to see them against Western New Mexico. If enthusiasm counts for anything, you're in good shape with (Segler).

TN: What was the transition like from Division II head coach at ENMU to NBA scout with the Milwaukee Bucks in 1988?

LR: We were a pretty good team in Milwaukee at that time. We had two really good guys in Jack Sikma (7-time all-star) and Sidney Moncrief (5-time all-star). They embraced me and really made me feel welcome, and when guys like them do that, the whole team accepts you. On a personal level, you're not totally scared (by the transition), but there's a lot of anxiety making that kind of jump. But, once you get settled-in and you know what you're doing, everything's fine.

TN: When you were still the Warriors' GM - a role you held from 2009-12, you were responsible for drafting NBA superstars Steph Curry and Klay Thompson. What did you see in them back then?

LR: You have a situation in the NBA where people try to tear down players, but we took a different approach with Steph, for example. There was no question about his shooting ability, but scouts and even our own people said he's not a point guard. In fact, he played a lot of two-guard at Davidson. I went down and scouted him against Purdue, and I knew he was gonna get beat up against them. But, I wanted to see if he was tough enough, and I left that game in Indianapolis saying, 'He's tough enough.' What I saw in him was a hard-worker from a great family, who could have a 10-12 year NBA career and be our point guard going forward. As for Klay, he was another guy who could put the ball in the hoop, but his defense was questionable. Klay has since become a very good defender.

TN: The Warriors removed you from the GM role in 2012 and made you their scouting director. Did you consider leaving the team? Why did you ultimately decide to stay?

LR: I wanted to finish that thing. The new owner (Joe Lacob) said to me, 'You draft well and I want to put you in a new position and I want you to see it through.' So in that sense, I wanted to see how things would turn out, because we just had two good drafts with Steph and Klay, plus, we had just signed David Lee to a big free agent deal. We eventually traded for Andrew Bogut and attracted free agents like Andre Iguodala and Kevin Durant. Steph changed a lot of things about the NBA, and with him and Klay, it's just like I used to say even when I was coaching at Eastern, 'If you have two good guards, you can be successful at other positions.'

TN: What is your greatest NBA accomplishment?

LR: To have been in the league for 28 years and see how difficult it is to win a championship (and then finally win one). I also feel like I had some good fortune to work with a lot of good people.