My great grandfather invented iconic American snack worth $1.5 billion and now I’m out to win March Madness
Who doesn't enjoy Tater Tots?
Believe it or not, the iconic American snack has been given a spotlight during the NCAA tournament.
That's because of BYU's Richie Saunders.
The junior forward is the great-grandson of Francis Nephi Grigg.
The man otherwise known as F. Nephi Grigg was the inventor of the famous potato snack.
Grigg and his brother co-founded the company Ore-Ida back in 1953, which owns the copyright to the name "Tater Tots" and is now worth over $1.5 billion.
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Saunders' grandmother, Delma Grigg Saunders, was the eldest of F. Nephi Grigg's eight children, making Saunders the great-grandson of the Tater Tot inventor.
And the rest of the country has taken notice.
Saunders and the BYU Cougars defeated Wisconsin to advance to the Sweet 16 for only the sixth time in program history and first since 2011.
The longer the Cougars stay alive in the tournament, the longer the spotlight will stay on Saunders and his Tater Tot bloodline.
Ore-Ida even announced an NIL-partnership with Saunders.
"We're teaming up with basketball hotshot Richie Saunders, the great-grandson of Ore-Ida founder and inventor of Tater Tots, to give away free tots if Richie's team wins today," the company wrote.
"If they win, the countdown for our 30-minute ‘Tot Clock’ will begin at the link in our IG bio post-game."
Saunders is embracing his starch-lineage and having fun with it.
“It’s hilarious. I don’t know where that came out of. It came out of nowhere,” Saunders said before the tournament.
“My great-grandpa founded Ore-Ida, which founded the tater tot. I don’t even know how it got started. Maybe Tyson (Jex) knows.
"I don’t know where it came out, but we’ve had a lot of laughs just in our house and had a lot of tater tots.”
In their win over Wisconsin, Saunders scored 25 points on 9/16 shooting, including 3/4 from three-point range, to go along with seven rebounds.
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The Badgers were the three-seed, while the Cougars were the six-seed.
It was a big upset that has now positioned BYU on the brink of history.
They are set to face off against the two-seeded Alabama Crimson Tide with the trip to the Elite Eight on the line.
BYU hasn't advanced that far in the tournament since 1981 and have never reached the Final Four.
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Saunders now has them two wins away.
And if they are able to do the unthinkable, let's just say it's going to be raining tots in Provo, Utah.