Saniya Rivers credits Kelsey Plum, ‘will never know the impact she had’ (2025)

The past 24 hours of Saniya Rivers’ life has been a whirlwind fever dream.

As Rivers prepared to be introduced at her first press conference with the Connecticut Sun on Tuesday, her joyous excitement of the moment was only matched by her humility and appreciation for being in that moment and everything leading up to it — and she’s embracing this new opportunity with open arms.

“I’m a hugger, I love hugging,” Rivers said, beaming with laughter. “I don’t have to know who you are, you can be crazy, I don’t know, but if you come up to me smiling, I’m gonna give you a big old hug. So that’s what y’all should know about me.”

The Sun selected Rivers with the eighth overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft on Monday night, reviving a dream that Rivers once began to lose faith in during her time at NC State.

The 2021 Gatorade National Player of the Year experienced many highs and lows between one season with the University of South Carolina and her three seasons with the Wolfpack. Rivers came off the bench for the Gamecocks as a freshman, and while she did consistently see minutes, it was not until she transferred to NC State that the native of Wilmington, NC blossomed into one of the most athletic defenders in women’s college basketball.

In an interview with Andscape earlier this week, Rivers revealed just how difficult the journey has been for her beneath the surface.

“I think for me, when basketball started to get a little hard and life started to get a little hard with college, I kind of leaned away from it and just said, ‘OK, I’m just going to be a collegiate athlete. When college is over, I’m going to wrap it up,’” Rivers said.

But after receiving an invitation to the Los Angeles Sparks guard Kelsey Plum’s “Dawg Class” and attending it following the 2023-2024 season, Rivers’s perspective changed after hearing what the two-time WNBA champion thought of her.

“I talked to Kelsey poolside for a little bit one day,” Rivers said to Andscape. “She was telling me that I had the potential to be great, that I should pursue the W. She really had confidence that I would make it in the league.”

Rivers elaborated on the advice she received from Plum during Tuesday’s introductory press conference.

“Kelsey Plum really taught me that it’s okay not to be okay,” Rivers said. “Like Aneesah just mentioned, we’re human, and sometimes I feel like with basketball people forget that (and) in life, I feel like sometimes people forget that.”

Fresh off a loss to her former team in the Final Four, Rivers entered the camp ready to pick up new tricks of the trade from the best in the game. But what Rivers learned from Plum related to how she felt about herself when she was away from the court.

“When I went to the ‘Dawg Class’, it was fresh off (the) Final Four we had just finished playing,” Rivers said. “I was mentally, physically (and) emotionally drained. I was just like ‘OK, I’m just going to flip my perspective, I’m going to be alongside Kelsey (and) other dogs, let’s do it’. I went and off the rip, it wasn’t even basketball. We were doing pilates, we were in mental health exercises, we were talking about nutrition, just all types of stuff.

“Kelsey pulled me to the side (when) we were poolside and she just (asked) ‘How are you, just mentally?’ and we just had a conversation. She was just like ‘You know, sometimes I struggled too... I face adversity all the time’. She really told me how she really honed in on just self-care and how she finds things outside of basketball that make her happy and that just keep her at peace and keep her level-headed.”

Rivers acknowledged the difficulty she has faced with trying to match the high expectations she has placed upon herself since the start of her basketball career. With Plum’s help, Rivers has learned how to balance holding herself to high expectations while maintaining a healthy mental state.

“I have a high expectation for myself, so it’s easy for me to get down when things aren’t going my way,” Rivers said. “But (Plum) just taught me to flip that perspective and just turn it into something beautiful.

“Go touch some grass, go outside, go in the sun, just do whatever. I really took that upon myself going into my senior year, just to really pursue the next level and to be here sitting next to some greats in the room and be able to talk to you guys. It’s just a blessing.”

Rivers pointed to her neck where a necklace with a dog bone pendant hung — a gift she received from Plum after being named the “Dawg of the Class”.

“Kelsey Plum will never know the impact she had in my life, and I wear this dog bone every day,” Rivers said proudly. “... I received the bone from a dog and it just really motivates me (to) continue to be a dog.”