A walk-on, Saunders played basketball at the University of Minnesota from 2004 to 2008 as a guard. He played only 20 games in his first two seasons in a backup role.[4] Saunders redshirted the 2006–07 season due to a wrist injury and did not play any games in the 2007–08 season.[4] Saunders graduated from Minnesota in 2008 with a bachelor's degree in sport management.[5]
Coaching career
Saunders in 2009 as the University of Minnesota graduate manager
After he achieved his bachelor's degree and finished playing college basketball, Saunders was a graduate manager under Tubby Smith in the 2008–09 season while pursuing a master's degree in applied kinesiology.[6][5]
In 2009, he began coaching in the NBA, becoming an assistant coach for the Washington Wizards. Then, starting in 2014, he was an assistant coach for the Minnesota Timberwolves.[7] On January 6, 2019, Saunders was promoted to interim head coach of the Timberwolves after Tom Thibodeau was fired,[8] also becoming the youngest head coach in the NBA for the 2018–19 season.[9] On January 8, Saunders got his first win in his debut as head coach when the Timberwolves defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder,[10] and became the youngest head coach to win in his debut since 1978.[11] On May 20, the Timberwolves announced that Saunders signed to a multi-year deal to become the team's permanent head coach, removing his "interim" status.[12] At age 33, Saunders became the youngest head coach in the league, despite having over 10 years of NBA experience under his belt.[13] On February 21, 2021, Saunders was fired by the Timberwolves, after leading them to a 7–24 record.[14][15] In June 2022, the Denver Nuggets hired Saunders as an assistant coach under Michael Malone.[16] Saunders won an NBA championship in 2023 when the Nuggets defeated the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals.
Ryan Saunders joined University of Northwestern-St. Paul as an adjunct instructor for the Spring 2022 semester where he taught Sports Leadership in the College of Behavioral & Natural Sciences.[17]