COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina head women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley announced that Ta’Niya Latson will join the Gamecocks as a transfer from Florida State for the 2025-26 academic year.

“Ta’Niya has established herself in the college women’s game, and her accomplishments speak for themselves,” Staley said. “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.”

A 5-foot-8 guard, Latson was an honorable mention All-American all three seasons at Florida State, earning First-Team All-ACC recognition every year as well. In three seasons with the Seminoles, she posted 22.53 points per game on 44.8 percent shooting, including 32.6 percent from 3-point range, and 84.2 percent from the free throw line. In addition to her scoring, she handed out 3.88 assists, swiped 1.76 steals and grabbed 4.40 rebounds per game.

In 2024-25, Latson led the nation with 25.21 points per game and became just the third payer in ACC history to record 2,000 career points in her first three seasons and the fastest to do it at Florida State. She shot 45.3 percent from the field and was seventh in the ACC with a team-high 4.6 assists per game as well. In her 29 games, Latson scored at least 20 points 25 times, including seven 30-point outings and a career-high 40 at Virginia Tech. In addition to her first triple-double, she posted four other double-doubles.

Latson burst onto the college season in 2022-23, grabbing National Freshman of the Year honors from the WBCA, the USBWA and The Athletic after setting the ACC’s single-season freshman scoring record with 659 points and leading all freshman nationally with 21.3 points per game, which ranked 11^th overall.

Prior to college, Latson was the top-ranked shooting guard in the Class of 2022 and the 14^th overall signee in the group. The 2022 Florida Dairy Farmers Miss Basketball and Florida Class 5A Player of the Year averaged 27.2 points, 7.0 assists, 8.0 rebounds and 5.3 steals at American Heritage en route to McDonald’s All-America honors. Prior to that, Latson teamed with current Gamecock Raven Johnson at Westlake High School in Atlanta for three state championships and the 2021 GEICO National Championship in her junior year. Latson drew All-American and Atlanta Journal Constitution Class 6A First-Team honors as a junior behind 23.7 points per game on 62 percent shooting.

Latson joins incoming freshman Ayla McDowell (Cypress, TX / Cypress Springs) as the new additions to the Gamecocks’ 2025-26 roster.

Continue to check GamecocksOnline.com and the team’s social media accounts (@GamecockWBB) for the most up-to-date information on the women’s basketball program.

Tough news Wednesday morning for the South Carolina men’s basketball program as one of the top transfer targets, Treysen Eaglestaff, has announced his decommitment from the team.

North Dakota guard Treysen Eaglestaff was one of the top 30 overall players in the portal when the Gamecocks grabbed him from Grand Forks. He now re-enters the portal as one of the top options available.

Speaking to Jeff Goodman of the Field of 68, a basketball media company, Eaglestaff said it was a “difficult decision” but ultimately this was the best choice for his future. Eaglestaff is expected to have a lot of suitors, but it is unclear if there is a leader in the pack for his services.

This takes the Gamecocks’ transfer portal class down to four players at the moment. Center Christ Essandoko, guard Meechie Johnson, wing Kobe Knox, and power forward Elijah Strong round out the list of portal additions minus Eaglestaff.

Eaglestaff brought a scoring presence to the offense that desparately need offensive production. Combine this with the loss of Collin Murray-Broyles to the NBA, South Carolina will have to pivot fast to add more offense to the roster.

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Gamecock forward Collin Murray-Boyles has declared for the NBA Draft. What does that mean for the Gamecocks next season? Losing a potential top-10 pick is never what you want, but it was expected. Despite fans wanting another year, CMB will still be a key piece of the Gamecocks’ future. If he goes top 10–15, that will help the Gamecocks, and having another good player in the NBA alongside G.G. Jackson will help in recruiting.

But for next year, the Gamecocks will have to fill his absent role, along with that of former 4-star and freshman PF Okku Federiko from Finland, who surprisingly entered the transfer portal. They will be in the market for another big, but I think CMB’s replacement just committed the other day.

In my opinion, I think Boston College transfer PF Elijah Strong will take over. Now, I’m not saying he’ll put up the same numbers, but at the same size and with a similar play style, I think he’s the best fit to try and replace a top-10 talent. He will also have two years to play for the Gamecocks.

Join the community:

You can follow us for future coverage by clicking “Follow” on the top right-hand corner of the page. Also, be sure to follow us on X at @GamecocksDigest and on Facebook!