A week after his official visit, Mike Saunders Jr. committed to the University of Cincinnati Tuesday. Saunders played his first two high school seasons at Lawrence North before going to Wasatch Academy in Utah.

Saunders was pursued heavily by John Brannen and his staff while they were at Northern Kentucky. The Norse were one of the first schools to offer Saunders. Brannen visited Saunders on the day that he reached an agreement to become the Cincinnati head coach, and Brannen continued to recruit Saunders as a top priority. That paid off in the end for the Bearcats.

As a high school player, Saunders has a burst off the dribble like few prospects. At the Gieco Nationals in New York City, Saunders blew by top prospect Cole Anthony on a regular basis. There aren't many players in the country that can contain him off the dribble one on one. That has been the case throughout his high school career.

Going forward, Saunders will need to improve his shooting. He has been good as a pull-up shooter over the course of his prep career, but consistency from distance has not been there. Shooting is the easiest skill to improve, and Saunders has been working with trainer Joey Burton right now. If he adds that to his game, Saunders will be a problem in the American Athletic Conference.

Saunders had scholarship offers from Nevada, Ball State, Toledo, Southern Illinois, and many others before picking Cincinnati.