Miami native, FSU phenom Latson wants to ‘put on a show’ when Seminoles face Hurricanes
Ta’Niya Latson has had this date circled on her calendar for quite a while now.
Florida State’s freshman phenom in the women’s basketball world is coming home when the 19th-ranked Seminoles (20-5, 9-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) play the Miami Hurricanes (15-8, 8-4 ACC) on Thursday. Tip-off from the Watsco Center is set for 6 p.m.
It’s a game with big meaning for Latson, a Miami native who finished her high school career with a state championship at Plantation American Heritage after spending her sophomore and junior years at Westlake High in Atlanta. She is expecting a large contingent of family and friends to be in attendance on Thursday.
“I can’t wait to see them, and I can’t wait to see them watch me,” Latson said. “That’s going to be the first time they see me play the whole season, so I’ve just got to put on a show for them.”
That shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Latson has been putting on a show on the basketball court all season.
Latson, a 5-8 guard, is the ACC’s leading scorer with an average of 22.5 points per game. That mark ranks sixth nationally and leads all Division I freshmen. No other freshman in the country is averaging more than 20 points per game and only one other player overall in the ACC is averaging at least 20 per game — Syracuse senior Dyaisha Fair.
In addition to leading the ACC in scoring, Latson paces the conference in made field goals (191), free throw attempts (172) and free throws made (149).
She became the fastest Seminole ever to 500 points scored in a season, completing the threshold in just 21 games played, and already has six games in which she has scored at least 30 points — an FSU single-season record. Latson also leads the Seminoles with 44 steals and is second on the team with 20 blocked shots.
The ACC Rookie of the Year Award, the main honor Latson was striving for this season, is all but a lock at this point. Her case for ACC Player of the Year is strong, too.
The real conversation is now on what national accolades she can pick up by the end of her freshman season.
Latson is on the midseason watch lists for two separate player of the year awards (the Naismith Women’s Player of the Year and the Wooden Award) as well as the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award, which is given annually to the top shooting guard in women’s college basketball.
“To be considered one of the best players in the nation,” Latson said, “is honestly an honor. I feel like that’s giving me motivation to go even harder.”
Latson has big-time aspirations in basketball. She wants to be, in her own words, “one of the best to ever do it.” Playing in the WNBA is the next step after college.
“That’s how I’ve always been in everything I did,” Latson said. “School. Basketball. Being a good sister, a good child. That’s just internal with me. That’s just who I am. I’m very ambitious and that drives me, especially on the court.”
She’s well on her way, and the potential has been evident for quite some time now. Latson was a McDonald’s All-American as a high school senior, a season in which she was named the Florida Gatorade Player of the Year in girls’ basketball and the Miami Herald’s Broward Small School Girls’ Athlete of the Year following a dominant performance with American Heritage. Before that, she was a focal point for Atlanta Westlake’s two state titles.
And through it all, Latson remains humble. She doesn’t let the success get to her head.
Her idols on the court include LeBron James, Candace Parker and Skylar Diggins-Smith. Her role model off the court is her mom, Daneeka Latson. The two talk almost every day.
“A lot of things I do now, it comes from her,” Latson said.
Mom will get to watch her daughter play in person on Thursday.
And Latson will almost assuredly put on a show.
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