NEWARK, N.J. — Richie Saunders, Tot King.
BYU’s leading scorer has signed a sponsorship agreement with Ore-Ida, the frozen food company his great-grandfather founded.
Heir Richie’s got it in the bag! If his team wins the tourney, we’ll drop this limited edition bag of Tater Shots. Keep cooking king! pic.twitter.com/fI4HMZTDhJ
— Ore-Richie (@OreIdaPotatoes) March 26, 2025
The family connection got some internet traction a few weeks ago when it was mentioned during an ESPN broadcast, but BYU’s run to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament has really gotten things cooking, which has been a great development for the Cougars’ training table.
“I was actually mad it took as long as it did for me to find out about the connection with the tots. I’m a huge tot guy,” BYU coach Kevin Young said. “And then our nutritionist that was with me with the Suns who I brought here, like three meals ago, we finally had tots at the meal table, so I was glad that we finally got those for the whole team.”
Saunders’ great-grandfather, F. Nephi Grigg, founded Ore-Ida along with his brother Golden T. Grigg in 1952. The brothers cashed in on the frozen food craze at the time, selling corn and french fries. Their first plant was located in Ontario, Ore., a small town near the Idaho border.
We are changing our name for the first time EVER. You can address us as Ore-Richie for as long as the Tot King is in the tournament. Let’s cook 🔥 pic.twitter.com/vZoAY9O1gG
— Ore-Richie (@OreIdaPotatoes) March 26, 2025
The story goes that F. Nephi Grigg created tater tots from the scraps of potatoes that were left over and wasted after french fries were cut. Saunders has long been a huge fan.
“Yeah, when all you eat is tater tots, it definitely makes it easier,” Saunders said. “For everybody listening, yes, it is true.”
Saunders said Ore-Ida representatives flew to Denver, where BYU played in the first two rounds, to capitalize on the attention the company was getting from his family tree and hash out a name, image and likeness deal with the junior guard.
“I think Ore-Ida has done a really good job because they jumped on the ship real quick,” Saunders said. “I think a lot of it is up to them if they want to try to cash in just like I feel like they have. Tater tots have been sold out in Utah County (home of BYU’s Provo campus) this whole week.”
The windfall of tater tots has been appreciated by Saunders’ teammates, too.
“I mean, I grew up eating tater tots, but yeah, it’s kind of funny to have tater tots kind of be, like, the whole thing with the whole team now,” Trevin Knell said. “Every time we go to team meals, we’re always joking about, ‘Where’s the tater tots?’ But shout-out to Richie and his great-grandpa, honestly.
“We’re glad that he can stay in the family business.”
And that family business has a new fan. Egor Demin, BYU’s freshman point guard from Russia, recently tried tater tots for the first time.
“It was good. It’s potato, I guess. I found out that it’s potato,” Denim said. “I always thought it’s something sweet.”
(Photo: Matthew Stockman / Getty Images)
