Former Clark High star Riley loved tournament appearance

Steve Carp

Friday, March 12, 1999 | 10:44 a.m.

DENVER -- If this was the last game Jermone Riley ever plays, at least he can say it was on the big stage.

The former Clark High star needed his entire career to realize his dream of playing in the NCAA Tournament. And while Riley and his Texas-San Antonio teammates knew the deck was stacked against them facing top-seeded Connecticut Thursday at McNichols Arena, they didn't care.

"It's unbelievable," Riley said after UConn wasted the Roadrunners 91-66 despite coach Jim Calhoun being bedridden with an intestinal virus. "It's every player's dream to come in here and play in front of 16,000 people.

"And when some of them were cheering for us, that pumped us up."

Riley, who began his collegiate career at Northern Arizona before transferring to UTSA after his freshman year, used to talk to his older brother, Ron, who starred at Arizona State, about what it would be like to play in the NCAAs.

"He used to tell me how great it is and he was right," Riley said. "They treated us like kings.

"The neat thing about this is that me and my brother got to play in the tournament. Not a lot of guys can say that."

Riley was second on UTSA in assists and third in steals this season and averaged 6.8 points. Thursday, he played 17 minutes, scored two points and had three assists.

"We knew this would be tough," he said. "Everyone in America expected us to lose. So we just said, 'What the heck?' and just let it all hang out."

Riley graduates in May and said at some point he'll be back in Las Vegas. He still wants to see if he's got a little more game left in him.

"I'm definitely not through playing," he said. "I'd like to play somewhere. But this is a nice way to end my college career, playing in the big show.

"That was something I'll always remember."