Elon baseball adds Burlington native Brandon Riley to coaching staff
Elon hired Burlington native Brandon Riley as an assistant coach, bringing a Williams High School and UNC alum back into Alamance County baseball.
Brandon Riley’s path from Williams High School to North Carolina and the professional ranks landed him back in Alamance County, this time on Elon baseball’s staff. The Burlington native joined the Phoenix as an assistant coach, giving the program a local hire with deep ties to the same baseball circles that shaped him.
Elon head coach Mike Kennedy announced Riley’s hiring on June 18, 2026. Riley had spent the previous two seasons as an assistant coach at Wingate, where he helped work with hitters after a playing career that included the St. Louis Cardinals organization and the Missoula PaddleHeads in the Pioneer League. Elon also listed him on its 2027 coaching staff, alongside Kennedy, Robbie Huffstetler and pitching coach Ryan Conroy.
For Alamance County, the hire carries a homegrown angle that goes beyond a standard staff move. Riley grew up in Burlington, attended Elon baseball camps as a youngster and now returns as a Division I assistant after coming through Williams and UNC. That kind of path gives Elon a coach who knows the local baseball landscape and gives area players another direct connection to a program that sits just down the road.
Riley played at North Carolina from 2016 through 2018 and earned All-ACC Second Team honors in 2018 before the St. Louis Cardinals selected him in the 14th round of the 2018 MLB Draft, 423rd overall. Baseball-Reference lists his birthday as Dec. 13, 1996, and his hometown as Burlington. He was also part of UNC’s 2024 College World Series team as an undergraduate student assistant coach, adding recent postseason experience to a résumé that already included high-level college and professional baseball.
His time in Missoula showed he could still produce at the plate, too. Team records list a 2021 season in which he hit .338 with six home runs and 34 RBI, followed by a 2022 campaign with a .324 average, 14 home runs and 63 RBI. After moving through the Cardinals system and then the independent ranks, Riley shifted into coaching in North Carolina and advanced quickly back to the Division I level.
Kennedy is entering his 30th season leading Elon in 2026, and the program has long leaned on continuity and sustained success. Riley’s hiring fits that pattern while also strengthening a recruiting and relationship pipeline in Alamance County, where high school players, youth coaches and families have followed Williams, UNC and Elon for years.
This article was produced by Prism’s automated news system from verified source data, official records, and press releases, then run through automated quality and moderation checks before publishing. The system is built and supervised by the people who set the standards it runs under. Read our full AI policy.
Did this article answer your question?
