 At Moscow High School, he was an all-state football player for the Bears on both offense and defense, an all-state basketball player, and a three-time state champion in the discus.His father, Louis, a professor at the University of Idaho since 1979, was the chairman of the agricultural education department.After being heavily recruited by colleges from coast to coast, Riesenberg attended the University of California, Berkeley, to study electrical engineering and computer science.