NC State women’s basketball guard Saniya Rivers fits like a tee in her second season
It’s usually pretty easy to find Saniya Rivers’ family on game day at Reynolds Coliseum, because it’s the only group with her face on their T-shirts.
Saniya’s father, Jimmy Donnell Rivers, began making the shirts with their last name and her number on the when she was in high school. That has since expanded to a larger collection — at least a dozen — with several T-shirts featuring in-game photos.
“When they pop up at the gym with those collages of me, ‘I’m like where did y’all get these from?’” said Rivers, a junior guard who had 16 points and eight rebounds in Saturday’s 64-45 victory over Chattanooga.
A small business in her hometown of Wilmington, actually. Saniya’s mother, Dee Tooney Rivers, discovered the business through a family member. They send in photos and the designer creates the collage. Plus, they’re not very expensive.
“They capture a lot of memories in one place,” Dee Rivers said. “They tell a story a lot of times about her experience.”
Dee Rivers plans on having the T-shits made into a blanket.
It’ll be a visual way to represent every step in her basketball journey: From high school, to her lone year with the South Carolina Gamecocks, her time with the Wolfpack and wherever the sport takes her.
Her father takes pride in making the tees.
“I do it because we’re very proud of what she has done and what she’s becoming, as a person in general, not just as a basketball player,” Donnell Rivers said.
That means everything, because they’ve been with her through it all.
“I told her, ‘We put a whole lot of money into her mouth and her teeth. I want to see them. I want to see that smile,’” Donnell Rivers said. “Last year when she came, we started seeing that smile. This year, it is just immeasurable.”
‘When she’s happy, we’re happy’
A lot of basketball players come by their love of the sport naturally, often surrounded by friends and family members who played. That’s no different for Saniya, but she didn’t just acquire a love of basketball.
She acquired a love of N.C. State.
Saniya left high school as the No. 3 player in her class and was heavily recruited by South Carolina, North Carolina, N.C. State, UConn and Notre Dame. She picked to play for Dawn Staley and the Gamecocks.
“It’s the best fit for me,” Saniya said in her commitment video. “The coach is a proven winning coach, and I feel really comfortable with the players. With women’s basketball, a lot of people don’t appreciate it as much as they should, but when you see the games at South Carolina you would think it was a men’s game. It’s just an amazing environment there.”
Saniya still appreciates her time in Columbia — she played on the 2022 national championship team — but just like several Wolfpack teammates, it ended up not being the forever program.
She didn’t quite fit in the puzzle, Saniya said in an interview after her transfer announcement. She wasn’t what the program was ultimately looking for and her confidence wavered. Transferring was the best decision for her and for the South Carolina program.
The Wolfpack finished among her top three schools during her first round of recruitment, and it was there the second time around.
It’s been a perfect spot.
Her step sister, Nanna Rivers played for Kay Yow. Dee Rivers played for Yow’s sister, Susan, at UNC-Wilmington.
“As a family, we had roots that are connected to the N.C. State experience,” Dee Rivers said. “There is a legacy there.”
But Saniya’s transfer was about more than just basketball. If all she cared about was winning and earning more titles, she could’ve stayed at South Carolina. Instead, she wanted to be happy. And that meant being a valuable asset to her team, feeling fully connected to every aspect of the student-athlete experience.
She didn’t take an official visit to N.C. State the first time around due to the pandemic, but Saniya was impressed the second time around. Her meeting with the vice chancellor left her feeling like more than an athlete.
“She said, ‘I just feel like I could be anything I want to be,’” Dee Rivers recalled. “In that moment, it wasn’t all about basketball. It was as a human, as a student-athlete, as a Black girl, all of those things. She felt like she could do whatever it was and State was going to help her get there.”
That’s what made the Wolfpack so special. Brittany Morris’ father, Arne, coached Saniya’s AAU team, the Carolina Flames. The family felt at home in Raleigh. And, no matter what goal she set, N.C. State would provide the support necessary to help her achieve it.
Anyone who’s watched any N.C. State basketball can see the positive results she’s gotten from the switch. The Riverses can sleep at night without worrying that their daughter feels good. They don’t need their phones nearby at all times just in case Saniya needs her parents.
They’ve watched her blossom with the Pack in every facet — basketball, friendships and education — and they’re seeing her smile. Dee and Donell couldn’t be prouder.
“When she’s happy, we’re happy,” Donnell Rivers said. “That’s what matters when you’re a parent: that your child is OK. It makes us OK. So far, her experience at N.C. State has been just that.”
Saniya and her teammates will take the floor one last time in Reynolds Coliseum this season. The Wolfpack plays Tennessee at 4 p.m. Monday for a spot in the Sweet 16.
The Rivers family will be front and center, and Saniya hopes she can continue making them proud.
“They’ve sacrificed so much since I was young to make my dreams come true,” Saniya said on Friday. “The fact that one day I’ll get to take care of them means the world to me. That’s why I work so hard. That’s my motivation.”
