"His message to me was to keep an open mind," Sanders said. "I think that he would have wanted me to look at more schools. He definitely didn't want me to make a decision without considering other options. What I told him was that this was something I've been thinking about for some time. I just knew this was the right decision and the right fit for a variety of different reasons. So when I kind of explained my reasons behind it, he was pretty comfortable with it and he's just as excited as I am."