River Baldwin ending college career happier than she’s ever been. She credits NC State

River Baldwin sets her feet. Hands up. A Louisville guard races into the lane, colliding with the graduate student and sending her sliding backward onto the floor.

Her N.C. State teammate, Madison Hayes, provides a celebratory cheer for the charge.

That moment was one of more than two dozen where Baldwin ended up on her bottom, wearing the biggest smile.

“Take it from her Mama, it’s never been better for her,” Gabrielle Baldwin tweeted in January.

River didn’t even want to play basketball as a kid, despite coming from a family of hoopsters. She played softball, volleyball and wanted to be a cheerleader.

“It’s just so much running. I really don’t want to run,” River told her mother.

They came to an agreement. She’d try the sport for one season. If she hated it, she wouldn’t have to play it again. It took her at least two years to admit she enjoyed playing basketball.

The center achieved a number of major accolades in high school, including a 2019 McDonald’s All-America nod, Jordan Brand Classic player, and ranked No. 5 in ESPNW’s Hoopgurlz Class of 2019 post player rankings. She attended Florida State from 2019-22 before transferring to N.C. State, becoming a regular starter and consistent post presence inside.

This season, River is averaging 10.4 points and seven rebounds per game. She added 38 blocked shots and 22 assists through the ACC Tournament — and she’s the happiest she’s ever been.

“She doesn’t give herself enough credit. She’s happier. She’s stronger. She’s more aggressive. She’s moving faster,” Wolfpack guard Saniya Rivers said on Feb. 18. “She had that injury toward the beginning of the season that she’s finally shaking, and we love it. We love having a dominant post presence down there.”

‘Can’t find any cons’

Hunter Baldwin answered the phone. A man’s voice came through, a basketball coach looking for his sister.

“Some coach called the house looking for River,” Gabrielle Baldwin recalled Hunter telling her.

“Did you get his number?”

“Well, no,” he said. “I gave him her cell phone number.”

That worked. N.C. State’s Wes Moore left a message for River — she was playing pickup basketball with her friends — saying Elissa Cunane entered the WNBA Draft and the Wolfpack needed someone. He wanted her.

Coaches always put their best foot forward when recruiting players, and sometimes the expectations don’t meet the reality. Sometimes meetings can feel like sales pitches.

Not with Moore or his staff. Gabrielle Baldwin appreciated the honesty. The Wolfpack didn’t promise a certain amount of playing time or a position. It did, however, promise to give River tough coaching and an opportunity to compete.

Before River even entered the portal, she made a list of pros and cons of leaving Florida State. She planned to do that for every official visit.

There were a couple of cons — not many, Gabrielle Baldwin said — about heading to Tuscaloosa and joining the Alabama squad.

None came up with the Wolfpack. She knew Hayes and former Wolfpack guard Jakia Brown-Turner. Moore and associate head coach Nikki West provide a balance of accountability and love, which River thrives under.

Most importantly, she liked the players.

“I said, ‘If you can’t find any cons, that’s something you need to pay attention to. Do you think you really are going to go to three other schools and not find any cons?’” Gabrielle Baldwin said. River had visits scheduled at UConn, Vanderbilt and South Florida. “She committed to him (the next morning) at breakfast and canceled the other three visits. There was just a sense of rightness about it.”

Time in Tallahassee

How’s your ankle? What about your back?

How’s school? How was work at Gigi’s Playhouse?

What about practice?

Gabrielle Baldwin asks River some iteration of those questions every day. The family is really close and River says her mom is her biggest role model. That bond is part of the reason River started her collegiate career at Florida State.

The drive from her hometown of Andalusia, Alabama, to Tallahassee is under 175 miles; about 2 hours, 45. Going home was relatively easy. A tank of gas would get her back to the place that felt safe and familiar.

It would also get the Baldwins to their daughter. They never missed a home game in those first three years.

Several other options — with the exception of Auburn and Alabama — were at least six hours from home. UConn is the furthest from Andalusia; more than 1,200 miles and two or three days of driving.

“Looking back, I say I didn’t really care if I stayed close to home, but I think that was always in the back of my mind when I first started,” River said. “I really struggled with homesickness my freshman year, so it was good that my parents were so close.”

River committed to FSU in her sophomore year of high school after catching the eye of former Seminoles coach Sue Semrau in the eighth grade.

The graduate student developed close relationships with Semrau and then-assistant coach Brooke Wyckoff, who could even be seen in the stands during River’s volleyball matches.

“We told her very clearly, ‘You need to be very sure before you make a commitment because your word is your word and people are gonna judge you by that,’” Gabrielle Baldwin said, “‘When you make a commitment, you will be expected to follow through with that. There will be no changing your mind.’”

But, Tallahassee wasn’t the forever place.

River averaged 5.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, 0.5 assists and 0.8 blocks per game in three years. She reached the ACC Championship with the Seminoles in 2020, playing against N.C. State, after the program downed No. 1 seed Louisville but never fully reached her potential.

She played through at least one major injury every year, often receiving delayed treatment, and needed significant knee surgery one offseason.

Plus, the coaching styles and team composition ended up not being the right fit. Those things impacted her performance.

“As an athlete, so much of your life is consumed with, in my case, basketball,” River said. “I base my happiness off of how basketball is going.”

And, it didn’t always go well in the Sunshine state. Semrau ultimately retired in 2022, while River completed her degree early.

She took a leap and entered the transfer portal.

The center said she doesn’t regret going to FSU. Her path guided her where she needed to be, at the right time.

“I think even entering the transfer portal, three years into college, made me grow up so much and be so independent,” River said. “As a freshman, I would have quit and moved home. I would have quit basketball because I was so down bad.”

‘They’re gonna stick with me’

Gabrielle Baldwin stands and claps during when the starting lineup is introduced against Syracuse. She’s wearing a No. 1 jersey in honor of her daughter at one of the last home games her daughter will ever play.

She doesn’t just clap for her child. She claps for all the players, coaches and staff who embraced River; who took care of her away from home.

Unlike Tallahassee, Andalusia to Raleigh is a 10-hour drive. It’s not an easy trek, but the Baldwins are used to it.

They spent several years driving three hours one way to Birmingham for a local travel team. Then, that turned into a six-hour one-way trip every weekend after River earned a spot on the Tennessee Flight Nike Elite Youth Basketball League team — and when she could admit basketball was OK.

When they haven’t been in Raleigh, Gabrielle Baldwin doesn’t have to worry about her daughter being taken care of. It’s comforting to know everyone from the head coach, assistants, athletic trainers (shoutout Brittany Blunt), teammates and fans have embraced River.

There’s love, appreciation and confidence — even on bad days. There aren’t egos, Gabrielle Baldwin said, because everyone cares about winning and each other’s well-being.

“If she messes up one time, they don’t give up on her. They keep on giving her opportunity after opportunity,” Gabrielle Baldwin said. “(If) she misses one shot, they’ll still throw the ball to her. They don’t take her out of the plan. You need that.

When she figured out, ‘Hey, they’re gonna stick with me. They’re given me everything they can, I’m gonna give them everything I’ve got.’ It just clicked. I’ve seen her smile more on the court this year than I ever have.”

‘The greatest experiences of my life’

Any game from this point forward could be River Baldwin’s last. She, and teammate Mimi Collins, will exhaust their eligibility when this season ends.

She doesn’t know what comes next. Will she get a spot in the WNBA? Or will she immediately get a job? She’d like to work in advocacy for people with intellectual disabilities. There’s joy in serving others.

Who knows at this point? It’s one game at a time. Anything can happen in the NCAA Tournament.

What River does know: She’s learning to be independent. She’s grateful Moore ignored the people who said not to recruit her and that her teammates have become her best friends.

Basketball is also one of the most important things she’s ever done, and she’d tell her younger self that.

“Every opportunity that I’ve had in my life has stemmed from basketball,” she said. “It’s going to bring so many great opportunities, amazing people. The greatest experiences in my life have come from my basketball journey.”

Oh, and the running isn’t that bad.