The national player of the year for high school basketball is a future Gamecock
South Carolina women’s basketball signee Saniya Rivers earned one of the top national awards in the country Wednesday.
Rivers was named the 2020-21 Gatorade National Girls Basketball Player of the Year, which takes into account for work on and off the court. The Ashley High (Wilmington) standout previously was named the North Carolina Gatorade Player of the Year last week for the second time.
Rivers is the first USC women’s basketball signee to win national Gatorade Player of Year.
Rivers received the award at a ceremony at her school. WNBA MVP Elena Delle Donne joined virtually as part of the celebration.
“I still don’t have a word for it. It is just amazing,” Rivers said after receiving the award.
The 6-foot-1 Rivers led the Screaming Eagles to a 15-2 record and the Class 4A semifinals this past season. She averaged 36.8 points, 11.5 rebounds, 5.3 steals and 5.1 assists per game.
Rivers also was named N.C. Basketball Coaches Association Player of the Year. She is a three-time All-State honoree and a McDonald’s All-American. Rivers was also selected to the WBCA High School Coaches’ All-America team and is ranked as the nation’s No. 2 prospect in the Class of 2021 by Prospects Nation.
“Saniya Rivers is one of the best athletes to come out of high school in years,” Blue Star basketball national talent evaluator Kevin Lynch said in a release. “Her speed, quickness, size and leaping ability makes her special from a matchup perspective. Her level of intensity is second to none. Smart coaches recognize that a player’s position is who they can guard. Saniya is that rare player who can not only play every position, but guard every position. Her ceiling is, well, she has none.”
Rivers is a member of the Ashley Leadership Council and a Bible study group. She has volunteered locally as an instructor and mentor for young players at the MLK Center and the Brigade Boys and Girls Club. During the pandemic, she regularly performed shopping duties for an elderly neighbor.
Rivers is part of a talented No. 1 ranked 2021 recruiting class for Dawn Staley and South Carolina. Raven Johnson, Rivers and Sania Fagin are ranked Nos. 2, 3 and 4 in the country, according to ESPN’s HoopGurlz rankings. Bree Hall is ranked No. 14.
Rivers plans on enrolling at USC later this month.
This story was originally published June 2, 2021 at 3:51 PM.
