BYU’s Richie Saunders has an NIL deal that Napoleon Dynamite would very much approve of.
The junior forward Saunders led the way for BYU in their Round of 64 victory over VCU on Thursday. He finished with a team-high 16 points, including a burst of six points in under a minute during the first half, to go along with four rebounds, two assists, and two steals as BYU coasted to an 80-71 win.
In the middle of the contest, TNT’s Dana Jacobson shared an amazing sideline report about Saunders. Jacobson revealed that Saunders has an NIL (name, image, and likeness) deal with American frozen food company Ore-Ida. That is because Saunders’ great-grandfather, Francis Nephi Grigg, was one of the founders of Ore-Ida and himself invented tater tots.
Indeed, Saunders’ NIL deal with Ore-Ida is very tater-tots-themed. For every game that BYU wins in this year’s NCAA Tournament, Ore-Ida will be giving away free tater tots nationwide for 30 minutes after the game ends.
With Saunders leading BYU to victory on Thursday, the people were officially blessed by the spud gods. Now tots enthusiasts will be hoping for a repeat when No. 6 BYU faces No. 3 seed Wisconsin in the Round of 32 Saturday.
Over the last few years, we have already seen some pretty epic food-based NIL deals. But in terms of both familial connection and overall vibes, Saunders, who has averaged 16.0 points and 4.4 rebounds per game this season for the 25-9 Cougars, may just take the cake here.
