Rivers began dribbling
a basketball when she was
2. By age 4 she was making
shots against 7-year-olds.
In fifth grade, she started
playing AAU tournaments
and getting noticed. She
had her first college offer
when she was in the eighth
grade, and by her junior
year at Eugene Ashley
High School, more than a
dozen of the country’s top
colleges were vying for her,
including the University of
Connecticut, Notre Dame,
Duke, the University of
North Carolina at Chapel
Hill (UNC), and NC State.
NCAA rules forbid
universities from announc-ing
commitments from
juniors, who can’t sign an
official letter of intent until
November of their senior
year. But Staley hinted
about it on Twitter, and
the next day Rivers herself
made it official in a video
that has received close to
200,000 views.
Left: Ashley High
School’s 6-foot guard
Saniya Rivers pulls up for
a jump shot against New
Hanover High School.
Opposite, from top:
Rivers, right, celebrates
a win over Hoggard
High School with her
teammates and Coach
Adrienne Gale, back left,
in January 2020. Rivers’s
hard work and skill was
rewarded with multiple
recruiting offers. She
will join the University
of South Carolina Game-cocks
in fall 2021.
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COURTESY SANIYA RIVERS
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