Ta'Niya Latson commits to South Carolina, the ugly (and unfortunate) truth behind the move

FSU women's basketball has had one of the best players nationally over the past few years in Ta'Niya Latson. The Noles have been in the top half of the ACC with her, going 23-10, 23-11, and 24-9 over the past three years.

The team has made the NCAA Tournament, losing in the first round in those first two seasons before losing in the second round this year.

Latson was the leading scorer nationally at 25.2 points per game. She was on multiple national award lists, but the casual basketball fan probably has no idea who she is.

That's about to change as Latson decided to enter the transfer portal shortly after the Noles lost in the NCAA Tournament. Latson announced she was transferring to the South Carolina Gamecocks on Tuesday afternoon.

South Carolina has been a perennial power under coach Dawn Staley over the past decade, winning three national titles and making the Final Four four more times.

FSU women's basketball fans can't be mad at Latson for the decision (and I don't think they are). She probably maximized all that she could do in the garnet and gold. However, the allure of playing for a program with the opportunity to compete for a National Title, more exposure, and likely more money can't be ignored.

It's where FSU women's basketball is as a program, but FSU was probably lucky to get her in the first place.

She likely won't put up the same amount of points as she did at FSU, but she's already proven what type of scorer she can be.

She'll have opportunities for bigger endorsements and exposure like women at other elite programs. See Juju Watkins, Haley Van Leith, or Paige Bueckers and others. Unfortunately, these are things she didn't have at FSU, and that's the sad but unfortunate truth because FSU doesn't treat it as such. We'll be rooting for her from afar next year because of what she did for FSU women's basketball.