Santiago Rivas had never been on a plane before.
While competing with Albuquerque Basketball Prep School, a post-grad program aimed at finding athletes college opportunities, the team had a trip to Utah.
Before takeoff, he confidently told his more jet-set middle-school teammate that he was not nervous for the flight.
“And then we started moving,” Rivas said. “And once we hit the air, I was like ‘Yeah, I’m nervous. This is pretty scary.’ But it was a great experience for sure.”
Rivas officially signed to play college basketball with University of the Southwest at an April event at Escalante High School, from where he graduated in 2022. A lifetime of hard work and overcoming adversity in his small town led to the former Lobo star’s opportunity to play at the next level in Hobbs.
“This has always been his dream since he was a kid,” said Santiago’s father, Nathan Rivas. “To see all the hard work he’s put in, day in and day out, just means a lot to see him go to the next level.”
Santiago Rivas graduated from Escalante in 2022 after a storied career where he scored over 1,500 career points. Over the last year, he played with the Albuquerque Basketball Prep School, traveling around the country and facing top competition — at one point playing against the top prep school in the country with top recruits.
He said the competition pushed him to make strong improvements in basketball skills as he became a “true point guard”.
Rivas joins a group of exceptional athletes to recently go on to play in college — Kalese Torrez recently finished her first year at Trinidad State playing volleyball, and Cipriana Garcia will join Lamar Community College’s basketball team in the fall. Small towns in northern New Mexico are often overlooked by colleges.
From as soon as he could walk, Rivas always had a basketball in his hands. And he was always the kid shooting 3-point shots.
“I was a lot chubbier,” Rivas said of his elementary-school days. “I had a deeper voice then, than what I do now. But I would always shoot from the white line. I was honestly a better shooter then, than what I am now.”
Rivas’ sister, Rikki Rivas, remembers him playing on the small children’s basketball hoop in the house, then progressing through little leagues, elementary and middle school before playing in high school.
“That’s all he would do, is play basketball,” she said of his youth. “We all used to play 1-on-1, and definitely would get super competitive. I remember when he was super small and he started beating me and my older brother. We would get super, super mad.”
“I’ve always been a gym rat,” Rivas said.
Nathan said that both of Santiago’s parents were athletes and coaches at Escalante, but they never had to fight to bring him to the gym. Escalante coach Isaac Royston said that the first time he ever saw Rivas miss practice was when he got badly sick right before a state tournament game his senior year.
The signing event took place during the high school’s lunch period on a Thursday afternoon in front of the entire school, which Royston said was to send a message to students that “with hard work, this can be you.”
“No matter where you’re from, don’t ever count yourself out,” Rivas said to the school. “I was counted out my whole life because of my height and where I was from. Never listen to any critics, just let that motivate you.”
Rivas stands at just 5-foot-9, and that is with a two-inch growth spurt after graduating high school.
“His height is just his height, but his whole heart is above what his actual height is,” said Santiagos’ mother, Edwinia Rivas. “He goes above and beyond his true height.”
Rivas said that as soon as he visited University of the Southwest, it reminded him of being at Escalante.
“The classrooms, and just the environment,” Rivas said. “It was small, like the high school here. The connections that they say that you’re going to make. They say that everyone is your friend. The classrooms looked exactly the same here.”
Rivas plans to study sports medicine and general science, and says he’s looking forward to returning to traditional classrooms after taking online credits through ABC Prep.
“I’m an in-person learner, so definitely looking forward to that.”
Through University of the Southwest, an NAIA school that competes in the Red River Athletic Conference (and finished 12-16 last year), he will continue to travel. The Red River Conference includes Louisiana and Texas schools.
So, Rivas might have another chance on an airplane. The next time, he will probably be less nervous.