Latson is Heritage’s first McDonald’s All-American
At 3 p.m. on Tuesday, just before the start of practice, the American Heritage girls’ basketball team gathered in their gym to watch TV on the scoreboard’s video screen.
The Patriots, who had never had a girls’ basketball player selected to the McDonald’s All-America team prior to this year, were hopeful that 5-10 senior guard Ta’Niya Latson would break that drought.
A half-hour into the ESPN selection show, the team was still waiting.
“It took forever because they announced the boys’ team first,” Latson said. “I had a gut feeling I would be on the list, but I was so nervous.”
When Latson’s name finally flashed on the screen, the entire Patriots team yelled.
At home in Pembroke Pines, Ta’Niya’s mother, Daneeka Latson, was also a bundle of nerves.
“When I saw her name, my tears flooded,” Daneeka Latson said. “This has been one of her dreams.”
Latson is American Heritage’s first McDonald’s All-American since Kenny Boynton made the team on the boys’ side in 2009.
The McDonald’s game is set for Chicago on March 29, and Latson has earned her spot by averaging 26.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 5.0 steals. She is making 40 percent on her threepointers, 52 percent on two-pointers and 81 percent on free throws.
Largely because of her, Heritage (18-4) is favored to roll through the Class 5A playoffs, which begin next week.
“Ta’Niya has been amazing,” Heritage coach Greg Farias said. “We don’t run any special offense for her. She makes her teammates better.”
Latson, ranked the 14th-best senior in the nation by ESPN.com, signed in November with Florida State, where she wants to study nursing.
“Defensively, she terrorizes opponents, generating easy baskets for her team,” ESPN’s scouting report reads. “[Offensively], Latson is one of the most explosive guards in the country. Her ability to elevate and finish in traffic with contact is outstanding.”
Latson, the only South Floridian on the McDonald’s list among a total of 48 boys and girls, was born in Miami but has lived in Hawaii, Texas, Missouri and Georgia due to her father’s military background.
Last season, Latson averaged 23.7 points as her school at the time, Atlanta Westlake, won the national title.
However, the family moved back to South Florida to help Latson’s uncle, Phillip Mortimer, in his battle with stage 3 brain cancer. The family said Mortimer is improving and should be able to come see Latson’s playoff games.
“We’ve prayed really hard on that,” Ta’Niya Latson said of her uncle’s health.
Heritage, the topranked team in the state among Class 5A schools, has rallied around Latson, whose ability has been evident since she was 3 years old.
At that age, her mother said, Latson could spin a basketball on her finger and dribble it between her legs.
“She was playing against boys as a kid,” her mother said. “They would put the two best boys on her, and she would still take them to the rack.
“I wanted her to be a gymnast. She was good at gymnastics and track. But when I saw her play basketball, I said: ‘Oh Lord, we have a little superstar.’
“When we lived in Hawaii, we would get home from her games at 8, 9 or 10 p.m., and she still had us stop the car on the way home so she could practice free throws at a park. She would shoot 100, 200, 300 free throws. Her work ethic is a monster.”
The middle of seven children and the only one so far who has shown this kind of athletic ability, Latson used to write her goals in magic marker, placing that sheet of paper above her bed. The McDonald’s game was on that list, and so was the WNBA.
“Ta’Niya is God-gifted,” her mom said. “She never backs down from a challenge. She’s like the bionic girl.”