Former Lady Jacket player Janae Saunders returned to Cedarville University as an assistant women’s basketball coach beginning with the 2024-25 academic year.
She spent the previous nine years teaching and coaching at Trinity Christian School in Fairfax, Va.
Saunders served as the girls basketball head coach for six seasons with the 2023-24 campaign recognized as the best record in school history. She was selected the Virginia Christian Athletic Conference Coach of the Year and guided her team to a league tournament runner-up finish.
Four of Saunders’ teams were Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association state qualifiers with her 2020-21 squad reaching the semifinals.
She was a health and physical education teacher her first six years at Trinity Christian and additionally held the position of assistant athletic director during her last four years.
The Chillicothe, Ohio native assembled an outstanding prep career at Unioto High School where she was coached by her mother, Cyndy Driggs.
Saunders was named the 2011 District Player of the Year and Scioto Valley Conference Player of the Year as a senior. She scored over 1,000 career points and was chosen to play in the Ohio North-South All-Star Game.
Saunders, who later became a two-year member of the Lady Jackets’ basketball program, was inducted into the Unioto High School Hall of Fame in 2022.
Janae earned a health and physical education degree from Cedarville University in 2015. She and her husband, Fleming, reside in Cedarville with their sons, Easton and Brady.
