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For the second straight year, South Carolina women's basketball and coach Dawn Staley may see three former players selected in the WNBA draft.
The Gamecocks fell 79-51 to UCLA in the national championship on April 5, and now three players in point guard Raven Johnson, shooting guard Ta'Niya Latson and 6-foot-6 center Madina Okot will turn their attention to the WNBA.
Johnson and Latson had no eligibility left from the start of this season. Okot tried to get another year, but the NCAA denied her waiver, the program announced April 8.
The 2026 WNBA Draft is April 13 at The Shed at Hudson Yards in New York City. Staley has sent 18 players into the WNBA so far, including 11 first round picks, two of which were No. 1 overall selections in A'ja Wilson (2018) and Aliyah Boston (2023).
With Okot's size, her draft stock was never really that vulnerable, but one year in South Carolina's system helped.
For Johnson and Latson, however, it was a different story. Johnson improved her draft stock exponentially and Latson's desire to polish other elements of her game beyond scoring seemed to pay off.
Johnson, a fifth-year point guard, lost just nine games in four seasons she played after tearing her ACL her freshman season. She's the only player in program history with four national championship appearances and leaves with five Final Fours, five SEC regular season championships and three SEC Tournament titles.
She won 94.2% of games in her career with South Carolina. But besides winning on a team level, Johnson went from career-low numbers to career-highs this season, increasing her draft stock.
She averaged 4.9 points per game during the 2024-25 season, but improved that to a career-high 9.9 and solidified her defensive prowess with the 2026 SEC Defensive Player of the Year award. She averaged a career-high 5.1 assists and shot a career-best 48.6% from the floor and 39.9% from the 3-point line.
"I don't think there's a player in the history of our game that has over one year, moved up in the draft in that way," Staley said of Johnson. "She became an All-American, a household name, I think she's worked extremely hard and there's nothing like an experience point guard. Raven fits the bill for to take any franchise that's in a losing situation, making them a winner."
Johnson was a projected as a WNBA first-round pick on April 8 in an ESPN mock draft, going No. 10 overall. In a similar mock draft from February, Johnson wasn't in the top 15. CBS Sports projects her going No. 6.
Johnson wasn't in any first-round draft pick conversations until this season, where she carried an injury ridden Gamecocks team to a third straight national championship all while improving her individual skills.
After averaging 21 or more points the last three seasons at Florida State, Latson came to Staley's system to learn to share the ball, make the right pass and play, and improve her defense.
There's been a misconception that dropping her points per game from 25.2 last year to 14.1 this year will ruin her draft potential but Latson, Staley and others don't view it that way.
"At Florida State it was just get it and go, get and go downhill, get it and attack, and shoot, and while you want to play fast in the WNBA, you also want to be able to play with your teammates," said ESPN analyst Andraya Carter.
Latson took a career-low 10.3 shots per game but shot a career-high 48.6% from the floor, more closely mirroring shot attempts that a WNBA rookie will get, rather than the 15.9-19.5 shot attempts per game she took at Florida State.
"Obviously a high-volume shooter and scorer, there are things that are attractive about that to the WNBA but also, (teams) know she can do that, they saw it at Florida State for multiple years but now there aren't question marks about the other parts of her game as well," Carter said. "She's shown enough scoring so being (at South Carolina), she's able to show other aspects of the game."
Latson is projected to go No. 13 by ESPN and No. 10 by CBS Sports.
Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at [email protected]. Follow her on X@Lulukesin and Bluesky@bylulukesin.bsky.social
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: How South Carolina's season helped Raven Johnson, Ta'Niya Latson for WNBA
Continue reading...
The Gamecocks fell 79-51 to UCLA in the national championship on April 5, and now three players in point guard Raven Johnson, shooting guard Ta'Niya Latson and 6-foot-6 center Madina Okot will turn their attention to the WNBA.
Johnson and Latson had no eligibility left from the start of this season. Okot tried to get another year, but the NCAA denied her waiver, the program announced April 8.
The 2026 WNBA Draft is April 13 at The Shed at Hudson Yards in New York City. Staley has sent 18 players into the WNBA so far, including 11 first round picks, two of which were No. 1 overall selections in A'ja Wilson (2018) and Aliyah Boston (2023).
With Okot's size, her draft stock was never really that vulnerable, but one year in South Carolina's system helped.
For Johnson and Latson, however, it was a different story. Johnson improved her draft stock exponentially and Latson's desire to polish other elements of her game beyond scoring seemed to pay off.
How Raven Johnson increased her WNBA draft stock this season
Johnson, a fifth-year point guard, lost just nine games in four seasons she played after tearing her ACL her freshman season. She's the only player in program history with four national championship appearances and leaves with five Final Fours, five SEC regular season championships and three SEC Tournament titles.
She won 94.2% of games in her career with South Carolina. But besides winning on a team level, Johnson went from career-low numbers to career-highs this season, increasing her draft stock.
She averaged 4.9 points per game during the 2024-25 season, but improved that to a career-high 9.9 and solidified her defensive prowess with the 2026 SEC Defensive Player of the Year award. She averaged a career-high 5.1 assists and shot a career-best 48.6% from the floor and 39.9% from the 3-point line.
"I don't think there's a player in the history of our game that has over one year, moved up in the draft in that way," Staley said of Johnson. "She became an All-American, a household name, I think she's worked extremely hard and there's nothing like an experience point guard. Raven fits the bill for to take any franchise that's in a losing situation, making them a winner."
Johnson was a projected as a WNBA first-round pick on April 8 in an ESPN mock draft, going No. 10 overall. In a similar mock draft from February, Johnson wasn't in the top 15. CBS Sports projects her going No. 6.
Johnson wasn't in any first-round draft pick conversations until this season, where she carried an injury ridden Gamecocks team to a third straight national championship all while improving her individual skills.
Ta'Niya Latson's time at South Carolina got her WNBA ready
After averaging 21 or more points the last three seasons at Florida State, Latson came to Staley's system to learn to share the ball, make the right pass and play, and improve her defense.
There's been a misconception that dropping her points per game from 25.2 last year to 14.1 this year will ruin her draft potential but Latson, Staley and others don't view it that way.
"At Florida State it was just get it and go, get and go downhill, get it and attack, and shoot, and while you want to play fast in the WNBA, you also want to be able to play with your teammates," said ESPN analyst Andraya Carter.
Latson took a career-low 10.3 shots per game but shot a career-high 48.6% from the floor, more closely mirroring shot attempts that a WNBA rookie will get, rather than the 15.9-19.5 shot attempts per game she took at Florida State.
"Obviously a high-volume shooter and scorer, there are things that are attractive about that to the WNBA but also, (teams) know she can do that, they saw it at Florida State for multiple years but now there aren't question marks about the other parts of her game as well," Carter said. "She's shown enough scoring so being (at South Carolina), she's able to show other aspects of the game."
Latson is projected to go No. 13 by ESPN and No. 10 by CBS Sports.
Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at [email protected]. Follow her on X@Lulukesin and Bluesky@bylulukesin.bsky.social
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: How South Carolina's season helped Raven Johnson, Ta'Niya Latson for WNBA
Continue reading...
