Perhaps a thank-you note is in order -- one addressed to former Marquette standout Dominic James.

After all, it was not supposed to work out so splendidly for Duquesne junior forward Damian Saunders.

He was not supposed to be in Pittsburgh.

He was not supposed to earn Atlantic 10 honorable-mention honors last season.

He was not supposed to be on the conference's all-rookie team two seasons ago.

And he certainly was not supposed to be one of the most versatile players in the Atlantic 10 as he begins his third season with the Dukes tonight against Nicholls State.

Fate -- and a change of heart -- got in the way of all that was supposed to happen.

After a stellar high school career in Connecticut, Saunders headed to Notre Dame Prep in Massachusetts for the 2006-07 season and, while there, made a verbal commitment to Marquette.

James, then Marquette's sophomore point guard and one of the top backcourt players in the Big East Conference, declared himself eligible for the NBA draft after that season -- but did not sign with an agent.

"It looked like he was going [to the NBA]," Saunders said. "And I was going to Marquette, definitely."

One problem: James backed out of the draft June 17, 2007, and decided to go back to Marquette, in effect taking back the scholarship that would have gone to Saunders.

That left Saunders scrambling to find a school.

Saunders landed at Duquesne.

"Just one of those things," he said. "But it ended up all working out for me."

It has worked out for Duquesne, too.

At 13.1 points and 7.6 rebounds per game, Saunders is the Dukes' leading returning scorer and rebounder. He also had a team-high seven double-doubles last season and set a school record with 71 steals.

And in quantifying his versatility (he has played everywhere from shooting guard to center), consider these statistics: Saunders has more career assists (125), steals (116) and blocks (122) than turnovers (100).

"Does it all," Duquesne coach Ron Everhart said. "I can't think of anything he doesn't do for us, on either end."

All this from a player who could have pouted, could have thought he was too big-time for the Atlantic 10.

"Anybody could have come in here with an attitude. They could have said, 'Yeah, I'm a Big East player, I should be playing in the Big East' and they could have been mad about how everything happened with Marquette," Saunders said. "But I looked at it as a new opportunity.

"At Marquette, maybe things wouldn't have worked out; I probably would have been sitting on the bench as a freshman. Instead, I came here and played a lot of minutes as a freshman, and everything has just been great from there."

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