Former Gamecocks Ta’Niya Latson Waived by Sparks Amid Roster Shakeup
Former South Carolina women’s basketball star Ta’Niya Latson is in search of a new home in the WNBA.
The Los Angeles Sparks waived Ta’Niya Latson on Monday, per the team’s official X/Twitter account. The move is less a reflection of Latson’s talent than a byproduct of a broader roster squeeze the Sparks have been navigating over the last 24 hours.
Los Angeles signed Alissa Pili to a player development contract and waived Laura Ziegler on Sunday night. Then the Sparks on Monday signed Kate Martin to a standard contract, after she’d previously been on a development contract — a domino effect that ultimately cost Latson her spot. With only so many roster and development slots available, promoting Martin to a standard deal meant someone else had to go, and Latson’s limited on-court role made her the logical cut.
Latson was drafted by the Sparks with the No. 20 overall pick in the second round of the 2026 WNBA Draft. In the weeks after the draft, the Sparks’ coaches and leadership praised Latson for her skillset while also emphasizing their excitement she was available in the second round. That optimism, though, never fully translated into consistent minutes. Los Angeles reportedly tried converting Latson into a backup point guard role, but the transition didn’t stick — a common growing pain for scoring-first college guards asked to reshape their game at the next level.
The numbers tell that story clearly. Latson played in 10 games this season for the Sparks and averaged 1.8 points in five minutes of action during those contests — a modest role for a player who was one of the most productive scorers in college basketball. She last played for the Sparks on June 27 against the Indiana Fever. Latson’s best game came against the Minnesota Lynx on June 17, when she scored six points and tallied three rebounds and two assists off the bench, offering a small glimpse of the playmaking upside that made her a draft-day talking point.
Sparks GM Raegan Pebley framed the Martin signing as the driving factor behind the shakeup, saying simply that “Kate has…” proven valuable enough to warrant a standard contract — underscoring that this was as much about rewarding Martin’s fit as it was about moving on from Latson.
Latson joins Sania Feagin as the second Gamecock to be waived by the Sparks this season, a notable pattern for a front office that has cycled through South Carolina talent without finding a lasting fit. Feagin, however, signed with the Portland Fire shortly after she was cut, and Latson’s draft pedigree and collegiate track record suggest she could find similar interest elsewhere. For a Sparks roster still figuring out its identity around veterans like Kelsey Plum, the latest moves reflect a front office prioritizing immediate contribution over developmental patience.
