Ivory Latta
Ivory Latta was a four-year starter who led the University of North Carolina to back-to-back Final Fours and was named the 2006 ESPN.com, USBWA, Basketball Times and Gballmag.com National Player of the Year.
As a 5-6 point guard from McConnells and York Comprehensive High, Latta’s UNC teams compiled a four-year record of 121-17 that included three Atlantic Coast Conference championships, two Final Fours and an Elite Eight. She finished her career as UNC’s all-time leading scorer, becoming just the second player in program history to earn consensus All-America honors two years in a row. She also finished her career as the school’s all-time leader in career three-pointers, three-point percentage and free-throw percentage.
As a sophomore in 2005, she earned third-team Associated Press and Kodak honorable mention All-America honors. She also led the Tar Heels to the 2005 ACC title, picking up most valuable player honors in the process.
Latta guided UNC to the 2006 Women’s Final Four in Boston and was the 2006 ACC Player of the Year while earning first-team All-America accolades from the AP, Kodak/WBCA, ESPN.com, USBWA, Basketball Times, Gballmag.com and the Wooden Award committee.
Despite offseason knee surgery, Latta was again a consensus All-America performer as a senior in 2007 and led UNC back to the Women’s Final Four in Cleveland. She also earned the ACC Tournament MVP award, making her the first player – male or female – to win the award three consecutive years. She collected first-team All-America honors from the AP, Kodak/WBCA, USBWA and the Wooden Award committee. She was the recipient of the Nancy Lieberman Award.
She was selected 11th overall in the 2007 WNBA Draft by the Detroit Shock where she was a two-time WNBA All-Star (2013, 2014). Her No. 12 jersey was retired by UNC.