Former South Carolina women's basketball star Ta'Niya Latson lands with Las Vegas Aces
· Yahoo Sports
Ta’Niya Latson has found a new home in the WNBA.
Two days after the former South Carolina Gamecock was waived by the Los Angeles Sparks, the Las Vegas Aces announced Wednesday night that they had signed Latson to a development player contract.
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Latson, a 5-foot-8 guard, was selected 20th overall in the 2026 WNBA Draft by the Sparks. She appeared in 10 games with the team, notching a season-best six points, three rebounds and two assists in a loss to the Minnesota Lynx on June 17.
A native of Miami, Latson began her collegiate career at Florida State. In her rookie season for the Seminoles, she was given the Tamika Catchings Award as the nation’s top freshman by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association. As a junior for Brooke Wyckoff’s team, she led the nation in scoring with 25.2 points per game.
Latson was a three-time All-ACC selection at Florida State and earned an All-American nod, but the Seminoles never advanced past the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament during her three seasons in Tallahassee. Ahead of her senior season, she transferred to Dawn Staley’s program at South Carolina with her sights set on playing in — and winning — meaningful games. The transfer also reunited Latson with her high school teammate, Raven Johnson.
“You know some players that you got question marks about whether they're ready. I didn't have any of that with Ta'Niya,” Staley said of Latson in April. “I think that Ta'Niya just made huge sacrifices, individual sacrifices.”
Latson swapped individual accolades for team success and helped the Gamecocks reach the national championship game this past season while averaging 14.1 points and 3.6 rebounds per game and shooting a career-best 48.6% from the floor. She was projected by many to be a first-round draft pick, but fell to the Sparks in the second round.
Sparks’ star Kelsey Plum was excited about landing Latson after having watched her up-close at her invite-only Dawg Class.
“She’s a phenomenal basketball player,” Plum said of Latson in April. “She's made a transformational jump, and I think going to South Carolina, it showed a lot of her maturity and understanding of how she wanted to grow as a player. And she certainly has. Defensively, she's I think as far along as I've seen a rookie be in her first year. I think for us, she's going to be super impactful.”
Latson was never able to find a consistent role with the Sparks, though. She’ll try to fit in with an Aces team that has made a few roster changes in the past few days. Las Vegas cut high-scoring guard Chennedy Carter earlier this week and signed Justine Pissott away from the Indiana Fever.
The Aces (15-6) are back in action on Thursday night at 10 p.m. ET at the Portland Fire.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Former South Carolina women's basketball star Ta'Niya Latson lands with Las Vegas Aces