FARGO - Riley Saunders quickly jumped on the opportunity to live out his life long dream of playing college basketball when North Dakota State came calling.
"This was the only school that gave me a shot and believed in me. I can't wait to bring my talents up there and show them what I can do," Saunders said.
Saunders, a 6-foot guard from Fairburn, Georgia, announced his commitment to play for head coach Dave Richman and the Bison on Saturday, May 3. Saunders says NDSU came onto his radar two months ago.
"I'm just kind of learning about the state of North Dakota. One thing I did know is that it gets really cold up there. I have to buy a few more coats but I have one right now," said Saunders.
Saunders averaged a career best 15 points and four assists per game in his senior season at Landmark Christian School, which is located a half hour south of Atlanta. He surpassed one-thousand career points during his time with the War Eagles, shooting 41-percent from the field and 30-percent from three point range over four years.
"I'm a pass first point guard so whatever it takes to get my teammates involved first and as the game continues and goes on I'll get myself involved. If you see when I score I really don't care about celebrating and stuff but when my teammates score I'm jumping up and down and just being in the moment with them," Saunders said.
In his junior season, Saunders had to overcome an injury the Bison men's basketball team is all too familiar with, a fractured wrist. NDSU lost its two leading scorers in Jacksen Moni and Jacari White to the same injury right before the Summit League Tournament last season.
"I get my skill set from LeBron (James). So when I was a little kid I saw LeBron chase down people and go block shots and it was basically that same scenario and I fell really hard on my wrist... Kept playing on it, won the game, then finally the doctors told me I had a fracture in my wrist and they put me in a cast for eight weeks," Saunders said. "During that time I kept working hard but only had one hand... So, by the time I got it off I was ready to go and hit the floor running again".
Saunders joins Riley Massey and Dom Clay in North Dakota State's incoming high school class for 2025. The Bison roster is now up to 11 guys with the additions of Tay Smith, Max Majerle, and Trevian Carson through the transfer portal recently.
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"It's starting to all hit, realizing I'm a college basketball player. Now that my time is here and that I'm in college and moving away from my family, it's all hitting".
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