Growing Up

Growing up in McConnells, SC was pretty cool. There wasn’t much to do at all! When you think of South Carolina, the first thing that comes to mind is the country and that’s exactly what it was. I really didn’t have a neighborhood because the houses were too far apart to go play at a friend’s house. So the things that kept me busy were climbing trees, playing in the dirt, riding my go-kart and moped, and picking plums from the trees. I also remember helping my father plant a garden and hoping the deer wouldn’t eat all the food before we got to it! And another thing was playing basketball on a full court beside my house that my parents built for me when I was 9 years old. I’m the youngest of 7 children (4 brothers and 2 sisters)! I remember first touching a ball when I was 5 years old. I would bounce the balls off the walls and that would always make my sisters mad!

My funniest basketball story was when I was playing in high school and my team was winning really badly so I started laughing. My next time down the court, the line jumped up and tripped me and I hit my front tooth on the court! Blood was everywhere. I had to get another tooth the next day – LOL! I guess that’s what I get for laughing at them.

Nobody else in my family really played basketball after high school except for my first cousin, Tiffany Johnson, who played with the Houston Comets and won all those championships. I also loved to play baseball and football. My father made me stop playing baseball because he knew I wouldn’t have a career in it. I played football with the guys at school and I was always the running back, QB, and wide receiver at the same time, (LOL) so I always scored!
When I was growing up, my favorite teams were the Philadelphia 76ers (because of Allen Iverson), the Chicago Bulls (because of Jordan) and the Charlotte Hornets (loved Barren Davis). I love to watch Pistol Pete Videos because they helped me work on my ball handling skills.

I attended York Comprehensive High School in York, South Carolina. I played varsity basketball since I was in the 7th grade! I had a great experience there. I had great teammates, a wonderful coach, cool teachers and the most awesome classmates you could ask for! We had the best student session because one of my buddies, Jason Roberts, was the funniest class clown (besides me)!

My most memorable basketball game was when I scored 70 points, had 12 assists, 14 rebounds and made 14 three-pointers (and was 15/15 from the free throw line)! It was the best triple double of my career! The gym was so packed for that game that they had to shut the doors at the beginning of the first quarter.

I won one state championship my junior year and it was the best! We went back to the state championship game during my senior year and lost by the same number of points that we’d won by the previous year.

I played AAU basketball everywhere. My main team was in North Carolina with the Carolina Stompers. That team gave me the best opportunity to get exposure because college coaches were able to see me play in different tournaments.

I had the two hardest coaches of all time in Steve Drakeford and my father Charles Latta. I can truly say they made me a better/tougher player. We would have a great time but the worse thing was practicing on the weekends. First, I had to drive about 30 minutes to practice and then we ran the whole time. The thing I hated the most was called 10 - 1:30's! OMG - they were the worse! But now when I look back on it, I’m glad I did it. Playing AAU basketball was by far the best thing for me and it’s the reason why I attended the WONDERFUL UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA!