HILLIARD, Fla. – Six years ago Brianti Saunders participated in signing day as a Hilliard girls basketball standout committing to play hoops at Stetson. Today, Saunders had another signing day that she has been waiting a long time for.
"I have been waiting for a while for this," said Saunders after she signed a contract to play professional basketball in Australia Tuesday afternoon. "I thought I was going to go straight out of college but I took a different route."
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Saunders left Stetson as the Lady Hatters all-time leading scorer but without an invite to the WNBA combine, she came back to where it all started and took a job as an assistant coach for the Hilliard girls basketball team under Tara Franklin for the past two seasons.
"Everyone should know Bria Saunders," said Franklin before a pep rally in front of the entire school to celebrate Saunders' signing. "She is the ultimate teammate, she is the unselfish player that I know of. Her community, her town, and anyone that has known her absolutely loves her. She has been a complete joy to have coached, taught, and to see grow up."
Despite not playing competitively for more than two years, Saunders says that she kept in shape and after going through two different agents, the third time was a charm and she now has the opportunity that she has been waiting for.
"When you love something and you want to transfer it to other people you are willing to have that patience. These girls have taught me a lot being a coach whether it was being patient, dealing with different personalities. They turned out to be great, so I am glad I got to be here for as long as I did."