Ta’Niya Latson already loving reunion with Raven Johnson at South Carolina
Ta’Niya Latson and Raven Johnson will be teammates once again this winter when the 2025-26 women’s college basketball season tips off.
The two star guards haven’t been on the same team since their high school days in Atlanta but will now get one last ride together with Dawn Staley and South Carolina.
Latson and Johnson teamed up to send the college hoops world into a frenzy back in April.
Latson, who led Division I in scoring with 25.2 points per game last season, was widely regarded as one of the top prospects in the transfer portal after she opted to leave Florida State.
On April 8 she announced her decision to commit to Staley and the Gamecocks. No less than 10 minutes later, Johnson announced her intentions to return to South Carolina for her final year of eligibility.
Latson heard from such teams as UConn, Tennessee and LSU while in the portal, but her relationship with Johnson was a big factor in her choosing USC, she said.
“Honestly, me and Raven have kept in touch since I was at Florida State,” Latson said. “We text almost every other day, just keeping up with each other, checking in on each other, making sure we’re OK. Then she also played a huge role while I was in a transfer portal. She tried to convince me — and you know, that’s my girl — so I wanted to play with her for my last year of college and I feel like we’re gonna have a great time.”
Johnson was in Latson’s ear from the moment she entered the portal after Florida State was eliminated in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
“I would tell her let’s run it back,” Johnson said of Latson before the Sweet 16. “She knows what a winning culture feels like, a disciplined basketball team. She knows all that stuff. I’m definitely trying to get her to come here. I’m in her ear, I’m definitely in her ear. I’d be happy, we all would be happy to play with her.”
Latson described Johnson as her sister and said she knew “she was going to definitely convince me to come here,” and it made her decision to be a Gamecock easier.
Johnson and Latson overlapped for three years at Westlake High School. Latson finished her senior year in Florida and Johnson moved on to college. The duo won three straight high school state championships and won the Geico National Championship in 2021.
Westlake boasted a combined 82-2 record during their three years Johnson and Latson were on the roster. The year Westlake won the Geico National Championship (Johnson’s senior season and Latson’s junior season), Latson was named an All-American and was named to the Atlanta Journal Constitution’s Class 6A First-Team.
Hilda Hankerson, Westlake’s longtime head coach, described Latson and Johnson as a “one-two punch” when she spoke to The State in late April.
Latson has been on campus at South Carolina for just a few weeks. She had a humorous reaction to her first assist from Johnson in practice:
“Thank God, I got my point guard back,” Latson said.
“Me and Raven, we’re just trying to build that chemistry again, taking it day by day. But we’re super excited to get the season started.”
Hankerson lauded the bond and instincts for each other’s game that Latson and Johnson have. Latson said that’s what makes her and Johnson such a lethal combo on the court.
“We just read each other really, really well,” Latson said. “We’ve been reading each other like that since high school. She knows my spots. I know her spots. I know you know her confidence is getting back to where she needs to be and also she’s given me that confidence to be myself.”
