The Scarlet and Black Gamecocks were in search of their 4th national title in school history and third since 2022.
It was not meant to be, as the UConn
Huskies took them down 82-59. Since that loss, head coach Dawn Staley has been doing her best to get the right players into Columbia to make another run for the 2025-2026 season.
Year after year, the Gamecocks seemingly have one of the best recruiting classes in the country. Now, Staley is doing her best to make sure they have some of the best players from the transfer portal come to town. The news on Wednesday made that pretty clear.
On her official X account, Dawn Staley welcomed the newest addition to the South Carolina program: “Welcome, welcome, welcome Ta’Niya!! Thank you for joining our Gamecock family! I would say @GamecockWBB FAMs activate, but you already gave her your special welcome! We can’t wait to get started!!”
Latson comes to South Carolina via Florida State. She was an honorable mention All-American all 3 seasons with the Seminoles. Last season, she was the top scorer in the country, with 25.2 points per game.
When Coach Staley was asked about Latson, this is what she had to say:
“Ta’Niya has established herself in the college women’s game, and her accomplishments speak for themselves. But, the beauty of her game is not just her ability to score. She has another superpower in her ability to set her teammates up to score, and that’s just a dangerous combination for opposing teams. Ta’Niya is an incredible leader and more importantly a fierce competitor. We’re honored to be part of her journey.”
In the Final Four win against Texas on April 4, she led the team with 14 points and in the title game loss to UConn on April 6, she finished with three.
Some draft projections during the week between the college season ending and the WNBA draft have shown Paopao going in the first round. If Paopao or Feagin go in the first round, it will be the third consecutive year Staley’s produced a first-round draft pick.
