The field to win the Wooden Award – awarded annually to the top player in women’s college basketball – is a crowded one.
For starters, the reigning winner of that award – Iowa’s Caitlin Clark – is back and is the overwhelming favorite at DraftKings with +100 odds to repeat.
Then there are two other returning All-American contenders in UConn’s Paige Bueckers (+300) and LSU’s Angel Reese (+350). Next up in best odds are a foursome of post players in South Carolina’s Kamilla Cardoso (+1600), Indiana’s Mackenzie Holmes (+3000), Virginia Tech’s Elizabeth Kitley (+3000) and Stanford’s Cameron Brink (+3000), each of whom will compete for their conference’s Player of the Year award and the Lisa Leslie Award, given to the nation’s best center.
If you’re a degenerate looking for a longshot bet beyond those seven choices, where you can really get a bang for your buck, the pickings are slim.
But there’s one player with a case more intriguing than the rest.
That’s Florida State’s Ta’Niya Latson at +5000.
A year ago, she was the consensus National Freshmen of the Year – earning honors from the USBWA, the Athletic, and the WBCA – after averaging an ACC-leading 21.3 points per game. And it’s worth noting that four of the past seven winners of the USBWA’s Tamika Catchings Award before Latson went on to win a National Player of the Year award – Clark and Bueckers among them.
Latson, who set an ACC record with 10 Rookie of the Week awards last season, had the green light for every shot she wanted to take as a freshman and that will likely continue her sophomore season. Florida State is expected to be a solid team again, ranking 18th in the preseason AP Top 25 women’s basketball poll.
And there’s room for Latson to grow. She didn’t top 30 minutes per game last season, and despite shooting a respectable 36.2% from 3-point range, she only took 3.4 shots per game from deep. Moreover, the 5-foot-8 Miami native sounds confident heading into Year Two.
“I feel like expanding my game is going to be a big thing for me this year,” Latson said at the ACC Tip-Off in Charlotte. “Looking to make shots more consistently, looking to get my teammates open and put them in the right positions – that’s going to be very important for our success this year.”
And FSU coach Brooke Wyckoff feels good about the steps Latson is going to take as a sophomore too.
“She really knows our system now,” Wyckoff told For The Win. “She’s working on her shot all the time, and also her defense. She really took that upon herself to become a better defender.”
The final point here is that Latson is going to be seen by voters and casual fans early and often this season. Florida State has nationally televised non-conference clashes with Tennessee on Nov. 9, Arkansas on Nov. 30, and UCLA on Dec. 10 – all of which are scheduled to be on ESPN2. And nine of FSU’s ACC games are on linear television as well.
Even if you’re not a bettor putting money on her, be sure to watch Latson light up opponents this season.
