How South Carolina's season impacted Raven Johnson, Ta'Niya Latson's WNBA draft stock

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. 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.