LaToya Antoinette Pringle (born September 11, 1986), a.k.a. LaToya Antoinette Sanders or Lara Sanders, is a former American-Turkish professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player and currently she is an assistant coach for the

Washington Mystics The Washington Mystics are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Mystics compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Eastern Conference. The team was founded pri ...

of the

Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is an American professional basketball league. It is composed of twelve teams, all based in the United States. The league was founded on April 22, 1996, as the women's counterpart to the Natio ...

(WNBA).. Sanders played college basketball at the

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the multi-campus public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referred to as the UNC Sy ...

before getting drafted by the

Phoenix Mercury The Phoenix Mercury are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona, playing in the Western Conference (WNBA), Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded before the league ...

in the

2008 WNBA Draft The WNBA draft is the league's annual process for determining which Women's National Basketball Association teams receive the rights to negotiate with players entering the league. The 2008 draft was held on April 9. A lottery was held on October ...

. Currently, she also plays for Kayseri Kaski S.K. in Turkey.

Personal life

Sanders was born in

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, where her parents were stationed in the Army. The family later moved to

Fayetteville, North Carolina Fayetteville () is a city in and the county seat of Cumberland County, North Carolina, United States. It is best known as the home of Fort Bragg, a major U.S. Army installation northwest of the city. Fayetteville has received the All-America C ...

. 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 Seventy-First High School is a high school located in Fayetteville, North Carolina. It was formed by the consolidation of six schools in 1924. School history Six schools in the Seventy-First Township consolidated in 1924 to form one: McPherso ...

. 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 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

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.

College career

Sanders attended the

. 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.

North Carolina statistics

Source

WNBA career

Sanders was drafted in the first round of the

with the 13th overall pick by the

. While in

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

she played in 29 games and started 7 of those games. She averaged 13 minutes and 4.4 points per game. Later she suffered an injury and was traded to the

Minnesota Lynx The Minnesota Lynx are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team won the WNBA title in 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2017. Founded pr ...

. During the off season the

Los Angeles Sparks The Los Angeles Sparks (LA Sparks) are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Sparks compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was foun ...

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

coronavirus Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the com ...

In Turkey

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 The 2014 FIBA World Championship for Women, the 17th edition of FIBA's premier international tournament for women's national basketball teams, was held in Ankara and Istanbul, Turkey from 27 September to 5 October 2014. This tournament implement ...

, she was selected for the Turkish women's national basketball team.

References

External links

North Carolina Tar Heels bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanders, Latoya 1986 births Living people Abdullah Gül Üniversitesi basketball players American women's basketball players Basketball players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Basketball players from North Carolina Centers (basketball) Los Angeles Sparks players Minnesota Lynx players Naturalized citizens of Turkey North Carolina Tar Heels women's basketball players Olympic basketball players of Turkey Phoenix Mercury draft picks Phoenix Mercury players Sportspeople from Fayetteville, North Carolina Turkish women's basketball players Washington Mystics players