At six foot five, Ruth Riley plays center for the WNBA's San Antonio Silver Stars. She played on Detroit Shock championship teams in 2003 and 2006 and is one of seven WNBA players to win a league title, an NCAA crown and an Olympic gold medal.

She was drafted by the Miami Sol in the first round (5th overall) of the 2001 WNBA Draft and selected by the Detroit Shock with the first overall pick in the 2003 WNBA Dispersal Draft. Riley was a member of the 2006 and 2003 WNBA Champion Detroit Shock, named Most Valuable Player of the 2003 WNBA Finals, and named a 2005 WNBA All-Star. She was a member of the 2004 USA Basketball Women's National Team that won an Olympic Gold Medal in Athens. Riley ranks fifth in the WNBA record books in total blocks (438). She competed in the 2008 Celebrity All-Star Game at the NBA All-Star Weekend in New Orleans.

Riley was born in Ransom, Kansas (about 70 miles north of Dodge City) and grew up in Indiana. She was named a USA TODAY Honorable Mention All-American as a senior at North Miami High School, averaging 26.0 points, 14.7 rebounds and 5.2 blocks per game. She also played volleyball and ran track in high school.

At Notre Dame, she won the Naismith Award and was named Associated Press Player of the Year, while leading Notre Dame to the 2001 NCAA Championship her senior season. She was named MVP of Notre Dame's NCAA National Title run, earned NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Players honors, and was named the 2000-01 Verizon Academic All-America Team member of the Year, signifying her as the top student-athlete in all sorts - male or female - in the University Division. She was recipient of the NCAA Today's Top VIII Award recognizing athletics, academic achievement, character and leadership in student-athletes from the 2001 calendar year. She was a two-time AP First Team All-American selection in 1999-00 and 2000-01 and was named the Big East Defensive Player of the Year and three First-Team All-Big East selections three consecutive seasons (1998-99, 99-00, 00-01. She was ranked first in school history with 370 career blocks and a career field goal percentage of .632 and finished her college career with 2,072 career points and 1,007 rebounds. She graduated from Notre Dame in May 2001 with a degree in psychology.

When asked about receiving the Iba Award, Riley said, "It is my pleasure to join such a distinguished list of athletes and be named this year's female recipient of the Henry P. Iba award, an honor that recognizes the life's work of a man who believed in making a lasting contribution on and off the court. As a professional athlete, I have been blessed with a certain amount of success, and I realize that I have a wonderful opportunity to use the platform that I have been given through sports to positively influence the lives of others. Being recognized for my humanitarian efforts is special, because it is not about a single athletic achievement, but rather my entire approach to life and purpose."

Riley's humanitarian accomplishments include being a national spokesperson for Nothing But Nets, a UN Foundation global campaign to prevent malaria. She also is aligned with TRIAD (Training to Reduce the Incidents of AIDS-related Deaths) Trust and has traveled to Kenya, Mali and South Africa during the off-season as part of a healthy women campaign to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS. "Both have significantly affected my life, as we provide life-saving resources to those in need - the first in the form of insecticide-treated bed nets to combat the number one killer of children in Africa and the second in the form of education, leadership training and sports." Riley said. "I am most proud of the progress we have made with both organizations, whether it be the number of nets we were able to deliver or newfound leadership that now exists in the communities we work with."