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American-Turkish basketball player (born 1986) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
LaToya Antoinette Sanders (née Pringle; born September 11, 1986), also known as Lara Sanders in Turkey,[1] is an American-Turkish professional basketball coach and former player. She currently serves as an assistant coach for the Atlanta Dream of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Sanders played college basketball at the University of North Carolina before getting drafted by the Phoenix Mercury in the 2008 WNBA draft. Sanders played for seven seasons in the WNBA with the Mercury, Minnesota Lynx, Los Angeles Sparks, and Washington Mystics. In 2019, her final season in the league, she won the championship with the Mystics. Sanders also played overseas in Israel, Turkey, Russia, and Italy. In 2012, she received Turkish citizenship and represented the Turkey women's national basketball team, including an appearance at the 2016 Summer Olympics.[2]
.jpg) Sanders in 2019 | |
| Atlanta Dream | |
|---|---|
| Position | Assistant coach |
| League | WNBA |
| Personal information | |
| Born | September 11, 1986 Nuremberg, Germany |
| Nationality | American / Turkish |
| Listed height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
| Listed weight | 170 lb (77 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Seventy-First (Fayetteville, North Carolina) |
| College | North Carolina (2004–2008) |
| WNBA draft | 2008: 1st round, 13th overall pick |
| Selected by the Phoenix Mercury | |
| Playing career | 2008–2020 |
| Position | Forward-center |
| Coaching career | 2021–present |
| Career history | |
| As player: | |
| 2008 | Phoenix Mercury |
| 2008–2009 | Maccabi Ramat Hen |
| 2009 | Minnesota Lynx |
| 2009–2017 | Kayseri Kaski |
| 2011 | Los Angeles Sparks |
| 2015–2019 | Washington Mystics |
| 2017–2018 | UMMC Ekaterinburg |
| 2019 | Reyer Venezia |
| 2020 | Çukurova Basketbol |
| As coach: | |
| 2021–2024 | Washington Mystics (assistant) |
| 2025–present | Atlanta Dream (assistant) |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
| Stats at WNBA.com | |
| Stats at Basketball Reference | |
After her playing career, Sanders became an assistant coach, and later associate head coach, for the Mystics. In 2025, she was hired as assistant coach for the Atlanta Dream.[3]
Sanders was born in Nuremberg, Germany, where her parents were stationed in the Army. The family later moved to Fayetteville, North Carolina.[4] 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.[5]
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.[6]
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.[7]
Source[8]
| 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 |
Sanders was drafted in the first round of the 2008 WNBA draft with the 13th overall pick by the Phoenix Mercury. In her rookie season, she played in 29 games and started 7. She averaged 13 minutes, 4.4 points, and 3.5 rebounds per game.[9]
For the 2009 season, Sanders was traded to the Minnesota Lynx. She played in 17 games for the Lynx and averaged 9.4 minutes, 2.2 points, and 2.2 rebounds per game.[10]
In February 2010, Sanders signed with the Los Angeles Sparks.[10] However, she was waived in the training camp. She signed with the Sparks for the 2011 season and made the roster, playing in 20 games and averaging 11.1 minutes, 3.9 points, and 2.4 rebounds per game.[11]
After the 2011 season, Sanders took a leave from the WNBA, continuing to play overseas while preferring to spend at least part of the year with her family.[12] Sanders returned to the WNBA for the 2015 season, signing with the Washington Mystics, who had held her rights since a trade in 2012.[13]
In June 2020, Sanders announced that she would forgo the 2020 WNBA season, played in the Wubble, due to concerns of racism and the coronavirus.[14] On March 8, 2021, Sanders announced her retirement from professional basketball.[15]
Sanders started her overseas career in the 2008–2009 season in Israel with Maccabi Ramat Hen.
From 2009 to 2017, she played for Kayseri Kaski S.K. of the Turkish Super League.
She joined UMMC Ekaterinburg for the 2017–2018 season and won the 2017–18 EuroLeague.[16]
In February 2019, she joined Reyer Venezia.[17]
In January 2020, she joined Çukurova Basketbol.[18]
Sanders obtained Turkish citizenship in 2012, adopting the name Lara Sanders.[19] Becoming eligible for the Turkey women's national basketball team, she represented Turkey in the 2014 FIBA World Championship for Women, EuroBasket Women 2015, and the 2016 Summer Olympics.
In April 2021, soon after her retirement, Sanders was named an assistant coach for the Mystics.[20] After the 2022 season, she was elevated to associate head coach.[21]
On January 6, 2025, Sanders was announced as an assistant coach for the Atlanta Dream.[3]
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game | RPG | Rebounds per game |
| APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game | BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game |
| TO | Turnovers per game | FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage |
| Bold | Career best | ° | League leader |
| † | Denotes seasons in which Sanders won a WNBA championship |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Phoenix | 29 | 7 | 13.0 | .448 | .000 | .824 | 3.5 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 1.5 | 0.9 | 4.4 |
| 2009 | Minnesota | 17 | 0 | 9.4 | .433 | .000 | .733 | 2.2 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 2.2 |
| 2011 | Los Angeles | 20 | 0 | 11.1 | .473 | 1.000 | .889 | 2.4 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 3.9 |
| 2015 | Washington | 23 | 0 | 18.1 | .402 | .000 | .765 | 5.7 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 2.1 | 0.8 | 5.0 |
| 2016 | Washington | 4 | 0 | 17.3 | .500 | .000 | .846 | 3.0 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 2.5 | 0.8 | 7.3 |
| 2018 | Washington | 28 | 25 | 24.5 | .607 | .000 | .869 | 6.4 | 1.6 | 1.3 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 10.2 |
| 2019† | Washington | 34 | 34 | 23.6 | .506 | .000 | .892 | 5.5 | 1.9 | 0.9 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 6.1 |
| Career | 7 years, 4 teams | 155 | 66 | 17.6 | .503 | .500 | .840 | 4.5 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 5.7 |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Washington | 9 | 9 | 26.4 | .466 | .000 | .789 | 5.8 | 2.2 | 1.2 | 2.6 | 0.6 | 7.7 |
| 2019† | Washington | 9 | 9 | 23.1 | .424 | .000 | .875 | 3.4 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 0.3 | 6.3 |
| Career | 2 years, 1 team | 18 | 18 | 24.8 | .444 | .000 | .815 | 4.6 | 1.6 | 1.3 | 2.0 | 0.4 | 7.0 |
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