Ivory Latta

Ivory Latta (born September 24, 1984 in McConnells, South Carolina) is an American professional basketball player. A 5'6" (1.68 m) guard noted for her three-point shooting and on-court enthusiasm, she played college basketball for the North Carolina Tar Heels. She is the all-time leading scorer in South Carolina high school basketball history (men's and women's) with a total of 4,319 career points.^[1]

High school

Latta played for York Comprehensive High School in York, South Carolina, where she was named a WBCA All-American.^[2] She participated in the 2003 WBCA High School All-America Game where she scored seventeen points, and earned MVP honors.^[3][4]

College career

Latta was named the 2006 Player of the Year by ESPN.com,^[5] USBWA, GballMag.com and Basketball Times National Player of the Year, Nancy Lieberman Award Winner as Point Guard of the Year (2006), Consensus All-American (2006), ACC Player of the Year (2006), ACC Tournament MVP (2005), WBCA National Player for the Month of March (2005), All-ACC First Team (2007, 2005), AP All-American Third Team (2005), ACC Preseason Rookie of the Year (2004), All-ACC Second Team (2004), All-ACC Freshmen Team (2004).^[1] Latta averaged 14.0 points per game as a freshman, 16.2 as a senior, and 16.6 for her career at North Carolina.

Professional career

Latta was drafted by the Detroit Shock with the 11th pick in the 2007 WNBA Draft. She averaged 3.0 points per game as a rookie, and had the second-best 3-point field goal percentage in the WNBA for the 2007 regular season.^[1] On February 6, 2008 She was traded to the Atlanta Dream for the Dream's 2008 second round pick and LaToya Thomas.^[1][6] She played for Ceyhan in Turkey during the 2008–09 WNBA off-season.^[7] She was originally released by the Atlanta Dream at the start of the 2009 WNBA season, but then signed on July 3, 2009, after the Dream released Nikki Teasley instead.^[8]

European career

• 2008–2009: Ceyhan Belediyesi
• 2009–2010: Mersin Büyükşehir Belediyesi

Personal life

On January 9, 2003 a resolution was read on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives by U.S. Representative John Spratt^[9] honoring Latta. She would also receive the key to the city of York, South Carolina (where she attended high school and Spratt's hometown),^[9][10] which celebrated Ivory Latta Day on January 10, 2003.^[11] Her friendships with NBA superstar LeBron James and actor/rapper Chris "Ludacris" Bridges have been well documented.^[5]

Awards and honors

• 2006 – Nancy Lieberman Award

Notes

External links

• WNBA profile