He played college football at North Carolina, Garden City, Nebraska, and Oregon.
[1][2] He attended Riverside High School in Durham, being ranked a three-star prospect and the 13th-best player in the state by 247Sports.
[3] Riley committed to play college football for the North Carolina Tar Heels over various other offers.
[5] Riley transferred to Garden City Community College in 2019, playing nine games and posting 26 tackles, 3.5 tackles-for-loss and two sacks in his only year there.
[7] In 2021, Riley appeared in 10 games for the Cornhuskers, tallying seven tackles with one tackle-for-loss, and being named to the conference all-academic team.