Latasha Lattimore puts the ball in her right hand, attacks the baseline from the corner, plants her feet in front of the basket and jumps for a layup. She has done this thousands of times in her career. But this time, in the second quarter of a December 2022 game between Miami and Michigan, is tragically different.
The 6-foot-4 sophomore forward, playing in her ninth game for the Hurricanes after transferring from Texas, barely gets six inches off the ground before throwing the ball out of bounds and crumpling to the hardwood. She immediately grabs her right knee and slaps the floor in pain, over and over again.
Lattimore knows she has just torn her ACL. She heard a “pop” in her knee, an eerily similar sound to the one from her first ACL injury in 2020, when she was a senior in high school. The Toronto native had recovered in time for her freshman year with the Longhorns but struggled to get off the bench and was looking for a fresh start at Miami.
In an agonizing moment of déjà vu, that fresh start was taken away before she even played an ACC game. Lattimore said the injury broke her heart into “a million pieces.” She did not know if she could make it through a second rehab process.
“Mentally, it drains you a lot,” Lattimore said. “Sitting on the sideline and watching practices [was] hard.”
In the end, her first recovery experience was hugely beneficial in getting her through the more recent one. Lattimore said she rushed through her rehab activity in 2021, but took things “one step at a time” during her second go-around. That wise approach paid massive dividends — she missed the start of the Hurricanes’ 2023-24 campaign but returned in late November and played her way into the starting lineup by late February.
“The second time I tore my ACL, I feel like I came back way stronger,” Lattimore said. “It was hard, but I just had to hold on to the grind.”
Lattimore’s improvements made her a sought-after recruit last spring when, following the retirement of longtime Miami coach Katie Meier in March, she re-entered the transfer portal. There, a close relationship with Virginia’s Coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton played a key role in bringing Lattimore to Charlottesville — the two have known each other since Lattimore was in middle school.
She announced her commitment to Virginia April 24 and spoke publicly about her decision last month.
“[Agugua-Hamilton] obviously knows what she’s doing — she’s a great coach, off and on the court,” Lattimore said. “She cares about her players a lot, she cares about me personally a lot.”
Lattimore also mentioned the team’s sense of community as a factor that added to Virginia’s appeal, describing her new teammates as “loving.” Agugua-Hamilton believes that had a significant impact on the Cavaliers’ eventual victory in the sweepstakes for the Canadian.
“[Lattimore] wanted to be in a culture like ours … that would feed her soul and feed some positivity into her, and I think our players do that,” Agugua-Hamilton said.
Despite a rocky college career to date, the senior is bringing plenty of pedigree to Virginia. She was the No. 38 overall prospect in the Class of 2021 and the No. 1 ranked player in Canada, where she won back-to-back provincial titles in Ontario while attending Crestwood Prep.
Lattimore averaged 5.6 points and 3.1 rebounds for Miami last season — those numbers appear pedestrian at first glance, but her increased role during the back half of the season led to a mini-breakout. She posted 8.1 points and 4.2 rebounds per game in her final 12 contests, which included five double-digit scoring games.
The Cavaliers are going to need that level of production from their new forward. Camryn Taylor, Sam Brunelle and London Clarkson all exhausted their eligibility last season, which puts Virginia down its three leading frontcourt scorers from the 2023-24 season. Agugua-Hamilton emphasized the team’s need to pick up more size in the offseason and that Lattimore was a key part of that.
“[Lattimore] is a tremendous athlete,” Agugua-Hamilton said. “She’s really looking great — athletic, can play on the inside and out, shot-blocker, rim protector and a rebounder.”
Offensively, Lattimore compares her game to that of Candace Parker, a fellow 6-foot-4 forward and two-time WNBA Most Valuable Player. She also tries to emulate Kevin Durant, a two-time NBA champion who served as the inspiration behind Lattimore’s decision to wear the number 35.
If she is anything like her basketball idols, Lattimore should have little problem stepping into an increased offensive role this season. It helps that she has fit right in with the up-tempo style employed by the Cavaliers, whose 74.1 possessions per 40 minutes ranked third in the ACC last season. In addition to calling her “very fast,” Agugua-Hamilton said Lattimore “runs like a deer.”
The Miami transfer confirmed she has encountered little difficulty adjusting to Virginia’s high-speed practices.
“[The pace] was nothing new to me,” Lattimore said. “I’ve always been a rim-runner, I’ve run the court — it’s easy for me … I love to run, so [Agugua-Hamilton’s] pace and my pace match.”
High school highlight tapes and a video of Lattimore dunking a basketball in 2019 are evidence of that. Even then, she looked ready to bring a dynamic element out of the frontcourt position that the Cavaliers have not yet had in Agugua-Hamilton’s tenure.
Defensively, her presence will be also much needed. No Virginia player has averaged more than one blocked shot in a season since 2021-22, but Lattimore recorded that and then some at Miami last year. She swatted 1.3 shots per contest and racked up 10 multi-block games despite averaging just 15 minutes.
“I bring energy, whatever it is — scoring, rebounding,” Lattimore said. “Whatever Coach Mox needs is what I’m going to give to her … I’m gonna give it my all.”
Lattimore sees the bigger picture, but she is not hiding that she has personal goals for her senior year. Two transfers, an ACL tear and only seven starts in the past three seasons have quieted the hype she carried into her college career. But she still has two years of eligibility and plenty left to accomplish when Virginia’s season tips off Nov. 4 against American.
“I have a lot to prove,” Lattimore said. “This year, I’m gonna put my name back out there in any way possible.”
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