The Los Angeles Sparks were heavily discussed over the last week, as they built a roster of returning stars, a major boomerang in Nneka Ogwumike, and a few new pieces, including Ariel Atkins. But heading into draft night, there wasn’t much chatter around the Sparks, who didn’t have their first pick until five picks into the second round. But the Sparks left draft night with exactly what they came for: a scoring threat who can defend at an elite level.
“It’s a dream come true,” Ta’Niya Latson told reporters after the draft. The Sparks selected her as the 20th pick in the 2026 WNBA draft. “I’m ready to get to work.”
As a freshman at Florida State, Latson averaged 21.3 points per game and scored 659 points, the most by a freshman in ACC history. She led the nation in scoring in the 2024-2025 season with 25.2 points per game. She’s put up huge numbers against good teams – as a freshman, she put up 24 points against UConn and 31 against NC State. She scored 34 points against Notre Dame and this year’s Defensive Player of the Year Hannah Hidalgo as a sophomore. She’s had a stretch of three consecutive 30-point games in ACC play. In her two NCAA tournament games as a junior, she scored 28 and 30 points.
Over the course of her career, Latson shot 45.5% from the floor (including a 45% season where she averaged 19.5 attempts per game), and was touted for her ability to get into the lane despite her 5’8 frame, finishing with athletic flair or getting to the free throw line. She also averaged more than 1.5 steals for each season of her college career.
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In her final college season, which she played at South Carolina under Dawn Staley, she averaged 14.1 points, 2.9 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game on a more balanced team. But her scoring is pressure tested. She’s adaptable, and she’s efficient for someone who shot the ball at such a high volume.
“I was challenged on the court this year,” Latson said. “…I went to South Carolina to become a pro and get ready for the league, and I feel like I’m well prepared.”
The Sparks hope that her going 20th will seem as strange in a few years as it sounds based on those numbers.
“It was surprising to us that Ta’Niya was able to be available at the 20th pick for us,” said Sparks General Manager Raegan Pebley after the draft.
Latson plays with pace, has quick hands, and can put the ball in the basket, all huge priorities for the Sparks in this offseason. “I love a good scoring guard,” said Sparks head coach Lynne Roberts following the selection. “Our draft model had her a lot higher than 20. […]She can shoot it, she can get to the basket. She’s great in transition. And then something that we really needed, and we’re excited about, is just her defense, her point of attack defense.”
Roberts noted that she watched Latson adapt to different style moving from Florida State to Dawn Staley’s gamecocks, and that she’s flat out “a winner.”
Having veterans like Kelsey Plum and Erica Wheeler in the backcourt gives Latson exactly the kind of environment to develop into a key part of the Sparks’ backcourt.
“Having vets like Kelsey Plum and Erica Wheeler around a young guard like that is a tremendous opportunity for her,” said Pebley. “She’ll soak up everything that they have to teach her. Those are two veterans that love it when young guards want to learn. […] This is a great offense for her to excel in and shine.”
“I can learn a lot from [Plum]. I was in the Dawg Class,” Latson said, referring to Plum’s offseason invite-only program for elite college guards. “I learned so much then. It’s such a full circle moment, because she gave me a lot of advice, and just to see how she worked up close, the way she takes care of her body, not just her body, but her mind, too. And she’s such a hard worker, so I can’t wait to learn from her.”
Latson noted that in Dawg Class, she learned the most about how Plum builds her confidence and her mental game, and made her want to work harder.
In addition to Latson, the Sparks selected Ohio State’s Chance Gray at No. 24 and Kentucky’s Amelia Hassett at No. 35, both players with elite three-point shots from elite competitive programs with excellent coaching, playing for Kevin McGuff and Kenny Brooks respectively.
Gray shot 41% from three this past season in a tough Big Ten, in an up-tempo system that mirrors what head coach Lynn Roberts runs in Los Angeles. At Ohio State, Gray was mentored closely by WNBA legend Katie Smith, and was actually in the gym practicing when she was drafted by the Sparks, rather than watching the draft.
“They had to come into the gym and let her know where she was drafted,” said Pebley. That’s the kind of work ethic the Sparks are thrilled to bring aboard.
Hassett is a 6’3 guard who averaged 10 points and 5 rebounds for the Wildcats, while playing 32.8 minutes per game and hitting 99 threes at a 36% clip. She had a block rate of 3.8 “Her steals and block rate, she’s a quiet assassin,” said Pebley. Like Gray, she comes out of a program built for this level. Hassett fits the WNBA-ready mold: a skilled, big wing who can plug into Roberts’ “pace-and-space” system without a significant adjustment period.
Pebley and Roberts expressed excitement at the elite coaching all three players have received. “You look at South Carolina players […] they succeed in the W. They’re ready. They know what it means to be a pro,” said Roberts. “Dawn does a tremendous job of getting them ready and making them realistic about how hard this league is. She echoed the same sentiment for McGuff and Brooks, highlighting the “motor” of players coming out of Ohio State and the fact that these players have been “coached hard, challenged, and pushed.” For a team that wants to win now, those qualities are essential.
The Sparks are all in on 2026. But the long game might be the 5’8 guard who patiently waited through nineteen picks before landing in a system that is thrilled to have her.
