Photo by Sam Thiel Marshall’s Cayden Werner poses for a photo with his family after signing his National Letter of Intent on Tuesday to play basketball at Briar Cliff University.

MARSHALL — With a quick signature, the next step to Cayden Werner’s athletic career was complete. The Marshall senior signed his National Letter of Intent on Tuesday to play basketball at Briar Cliff University.

Werner said it felt good to finally have this day come and is grateful for his family, coaches and friends for helping him get to this opportunity.

“It’s really great,” Werner said. “I had a lot of support throughout my career with my family, coaches and friends, they all let me get this opportunity to make me get better at sports and basketball, which is great.”

Werner added he’s always wanted to play college basketball and knew Briar Cliff was a great fit for him when he stepped foot on campus.

“Basketball’s always been my passion to play, I’ve always wanted to go somewhere for basketball,” Werner said. “Briar Cliff has great coaches, the assistant coach has been there for four years and he’s played there and the head coach has been there for 11-12 years and it’s just a great atmosphere there. I went to visit and knew it would be a great home for me.”

The past few years, Werner has been a key contributor to Marshall’s success on the hardwood. This past winter, Werner averaged 5.8 points per game, recorded 114 rebounds (4.01 rebounds per game) and dished out 19 assists. He also shot 43.8% (14 of 32) from the 3-point line. He attributed that success to the support his family, coaches, teammates and the rest of the Marshall community has had for him.

“The last four years have been great, they’ve all supported me,” Werner said. “I’ve had a great community to support me through games and [today] they’re all here, so it’s just great to have them here and the family that we have here in Marshall.”

Werner said he plans to major in graphic design. Going into next year, Werner said he’s looking forward to meeting new people and exploring new places.

“Just meeting new people and seeing new places,” Werner said. “I’ve never been to Sioux City, Iowa and I like the town size and there will be a lot of great people to see and meet.”