LaToya Sanders

LaToya Antoinette Pringle (born September 11, 1986), a.k.a. LaToya Antoinette Sanders or Lara Sanders, is an American-Turkish professional basketball player for the Washington Mystics of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).[1] Sanders is undersized forward/center that is not fazed by trash talking. Sanders played college basketball at the University of North Carolina before getting drafted by the Phoenix Mercury in the 2008 WNBA Draft. Currently, she also plays for Kayseri Kaski S.K. in Turkey.[2]

LaToya Sanders
Sanders in 2019
No. 30 – Washington Mystics
PositionForward
LeagueWNBA
Personal information
Born (1986-09-11) September 11, 1986
Nuremberg, Germany
NationalityAmerican / Turkish
Listed height6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Listed weight170 lb (77 kg)
Career information
High schoolSeventy-First
(Fayetteville, North Carolina)
CollegeNorth Carolina (2004–2008)
WNBA draft2008 / Round: 1 / Pick: 13th overall
Selected by the Phoenix Mercury
Playing career2008–present
Career history
2008Phoenix Mercury
2009Minnesota Lynx
2010–presentKayseri Kaski
2011Los Angeles Sparks
2012,
2015–2016
2017–present		Washington Mystics
Career highlights and awards
Stats at WNBA.com

Personal life

Sanders was born in Nuremberg, Germany, where her parents were stationed in the Army. The family later moved to Fayetteville, North Carolina. She is the daughter of Reece and Sharon Pringle and has a younger sister named Shanice. Sanders is married to former UNC men's basketball player Byron Sanders.

High school

LaToya attended Seventy-First High School in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Sanders was named North Carolina's Miss Basketball for Class 4-A in her junior and senior years. She also was named first-team all-state both years. Sanders led Seventy-First to state titles in 2003 and 2004, winning tournament MVP honors on both occasions. As a senior, she totalled 25 points, 18 rebounds and seven blocks in the title game. Sanders set a state championship record with 28 rebounds in the 2003 title game. She also averaged 21.5 points, 14.2 rebounds and nine blocks in her senior season.[3]

College career
LaToya Sanders for North Carolina in a game against Connecticut.

Sanders attended the University of North Carolina. As a freshman at UNC she averaged 4.6 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.5 blocks. She played in 30 games and ranked fifth in the ACC with 1.5 blocks per game. In her junior year she had a breakout season in her first year as a starter. She started all 38 games for the Tar Heels, establishing a school record for games started and games played in a season. She was second on the team and fourth in the ACC in field goal percentage (.550) and second in blocks (3.18 per game). Her 3.18 blocks per game were good for fifth in the NCAA. She registered a block in every game and five or more on eight occasions.[4]

North Carolina statistics

Source[5]

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
Year Team GP Points FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2004-05 North Carolina 30 138 65.3 - 66.7 3.0 0.0 0.4 1.5 4.6
2005-06 North Carolina 35 190 58.3 - 74.5 4.4 0.6 1.1 2.1 5.4
2006-07 North Carolina 38 370 55.0 - 73.3 7.5 0.6 1.2 3.2 9.7
2007-08 North Carolina 35 510 58.4 100.0 74.9 7.2 0.8 1.4 2.7 14.6
Career North Carolina 138 1208 57.9 33.3 73.3 5.7 0.5 1.1 2.4 8.8

WNBA career

Sanders was drafted in the first round of the 2008 WNBA Draft with the 13th overall pick by the Phoenix Mercury. While in Phoenix she played in 29 games and started 7 of those games. She averaged 13 minutes and 4.4 points per game.[6] Later she suffered an injury and was traded to the Minnesota Lynx.[7] During the off season the Los Angeles Sparks signed Sanders.[8]

In June of 2020, Sanders announced that she would forgo the 2020 WNBA season due to concerns of racism and the coronavirus. [9]

In Turkey
Lara Sanders for Turkey in the 2014 FIBA World Championship for Women quarterfinals match against Serbia.

She plays for Kayseri Kaski S.K. in Turkey since the 2010–11 season. After obtaining Turkish citizenship during the 2012–13 season, she adopted the name Lara Sanders. For the 2014 FIBA World Championship for Women, she was selected for the Turkish women's national basketball team.[10]

References
  1. "LaToya Sanders - WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA". WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  2. "Latoya Sanders Sözleşme Yeniledi" (in Turkish). Türkiye Basketbol Ligleri. September 16, 2013. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
  3. "LaToya Pringle - 2004-05 Women's Basketball Roster - UNC Tar Heels Athletics". www.goheels.com. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  4. "University of North Carolina Tar Heels Official Athletic Site". tarheelblue.cstv.com. Archived from the original on October 18, 2008. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  5. "Women's Basketball Player stats". NCAA. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
  6. Career Stats and Totals Archived June 11, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  7. "Mercury trade Miller, Pringle for Ohlde". www.azcentral.com. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  8. Favor, Sue (February 16, 2010). "They're Playing Basketball: Sparks sign LaToya Pringle". They're Playing Basketball. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  9. https://www.cbssports.com/wnba/news/wnba-2020-season-jonquel-jones-renee-montgomery-natasha-cloud-among-players-sitting-out/
  10. "Dünya şampiyonası öncesi karolar açıklandı". Hürriyet (in Turkish). May 28, 2014. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
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