South Carolina women's basketball star transfer makes preseason AP All-American squad

On Tuesday, the Associated Press announced its preseason All-American team, and a South Carolina women’s basketball star made the cut. Transfer portal addition Ta’Niya Latson was a first-team selection as a guard.

Joining Latson on the 2025-2026 AP preseason All-American first-team are Texas’ Madison Booker, UConn’s Sarah Strong, UCLA’s Lauren Betts, and Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo.

Latson, who spent three years at Florida State before making the move to Columbia this offseason, led the nation in scoring during the 2024-2025 season. The walking bucket averaged 25.2 points per game, nearly a full point ahead of second place. She also added 4.6 assists and 4.6 rebounds per game to the box score, too.

For her efforts, Latson was a second-team All-American as a junior.

NEW! Message board for South Carolina Women’s Basketball!

Heading into her senior year, Latson will have her best opportunity to win and to develop for the WNBA.

The AP voted South Carolina as the preseason No. 2 team in the sport last week, and the Gamecocks (along with the preseason No. 1 UConn Huskies) are favorites to bring home a national title. Head coach Dawn Staley has also excelled at getting players ready for the professional game. USC was the only college program with three All-WNBA players this year (A’ja Wilson, Aliyah Boston, and Allisha Gray).

Latson and South Carolina will officially begin their season in less than two weeks. Following exhibitions against Anderson and North Carolina, the Gamecocks will open the regular season with a home matchup with Grand Canyon.

The ‘Lopes (now coached by former Carolina assistant Winston Gandy) will travel to Colonial Life Arena for a Monday, November 3rd showdown. Tip-off is slated for 7:00 p.m. The season opener will not be on traditional television but will stream on SEC Network+.

NEW! Message board for South Carolina Women’s Basketball!