Lone season with Gamecocks helped Ta’Niya Latson’s draft stock, ESPN pundit says
South Carolina guard Ta’Niya Latson is all but a lock to be a first-round pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft on Monday night.
Latson put together a strong college career across stops at Florida State and South Carolina.
While she may have made her name with the Seminoles, ESPN analyst and Basketball Hall of Famer Rebecca Lobo believes Latson’s lone year with the Gamecocks made her a well-rounded player and boosted her draft stock.
Latson is projected to be a mid-first round draft pick by several outlets. USA Today and Tankathon have Latson being selected as high as No. 7 by the Portland Fire, while ESPN has her going as low as No. 13 to the Atlanta Dream.
“I think she was just able to illustrate, over the course of the season, some of the things that she wasn’t asked to do at Florida State that she’s going to need to be able to do to be a good WNBA player,” Lobo told reporters Friday. “And I certainly think that it did help her draft stock to show all of those things.”
During her three seasons at Florida State, Latson was the star of the show.
Latson averaged 22.5 points per game across those years. She started in all 93 games during her tenure with the Seminoles and was a three-time All-ACC selection.
The peak of her time at Florida State was her junior year (the 2024-25 season), when she led the country with 25.2 points per game. Latson was far and away the best player in Florida State’s program during those three seasons. But Florida State went 70-30 and never made it past the second round of the NCAA Tournament during that time.
When Latson transferred to South Carolina this past season, she had to take on a lesser role simply because the Gamecocks’ roster was chock full of talent. Latson essentially went from the star at FSU to one of the stars with the Gamecocks. It’s a role she’ll have to play early on in her pro career.
“She showed what her game looks like when she’s surrounded by a different level of talent,” Lobo said. “While she was at South Carolina, she showed that she can play with other great players.”
Some of Latson’s numbers dropped as a result of playing with better players, but that doesn’t mean she had a poor season.
Latson was named to the All-SEC second team this past season. Her scoring dipped to 14.1 points per game, but that was still second on the team. And although her literal points production dipped, she was still efficient on offense.
The guard posted career highs in field goal percentage (48.6%), effective field goal percentage (52.2%) and true shooting percentage (57.5%). Latson’s usage rate dropped from a nation-leading 38.2% to 22.9% with South Carolina, but her win shares increased to 7.0.
“She’s not somebody who’s going to go to the WNBA and have the usage rate that she has, that she had at Florida State,” Lobo said. “She showed that she can be a better defender than she had to be when she was at Florida State, that she can be a facilitator while still playing to her strengths, while still being outstanding out in transition and scoring and creating off the bounce and getting in the paint and distributing to others.”
Latson also showed improvement on the defensive side of the ball, something she said was a goal entering the season. Latson’s defensive box plus/minus was a career-high 6.6 this season. Her defensive win shares also increased to a career-high 2.3.
This story was originally published April 13, 2026 at 7:00 AM with the headline "Lone season with Gamecocks helped Ta’Niya Latson’s draft stock, ESPN pundit says."
