Women's Basketball
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
- Email:
- lsk1@uw.edu
Latara King serves as an associate head coach for the Washington women’s basketball team. She will enter her fifth season with the Huskies — and eighth alongside Head Coach Tina Langley — in 2025-26.
During the 2024-25 campaign, King helped the Huskies return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2017. Her scouting insights supported a successful transition into the Big Ten, with Washington earning its most conference wins in eight years. King’s work with the team helped the Huskies achieve the Big Ten’s highest marks in field goal percentage (49.3%), 3-point percentage (40.1%), and free throw percentage (83.6%) in conference play.
King also continued to oversee recruiting operations for the Huskies, helping bring in a top-15 recruiting class in 2025 — the third in the last four seasons for Washington. Notably, the most recent recruiting class included the commitment of five-star Brynn McGaughy, the highest-ranked recruit in Washington history and one of ESPN’s 10 freshmen to watch for the 2025-26 season. Off the court, the Huskies maintained their academic excellence, averaging a 3.43 GPA during the season and earning their fourth consecutive perfect Academic Progress Rating from the NCAA — a mark tied for the highest among Big Ten programs.
Building on their upward trajectory, King helped the Huskies open the 2023-24 campaign with an 11-0 record, tying the best start in program history. A 64-32 win against Saint Mary’s on Dec. 16 propelled Washington into the AP Poll at No. 23 — the program’s first appearance since 2017.
King helped Washington record a number of notable victories later that season, including four wins over AP-ranked opponents. Three of the wins (No. 21 Washington State, No. 11 USC, and No. 18 Utah) came on the road, marking the first time in program history the Huskies had won three games at ranked opponents. Washington also nabbed a 61-51 home victory against No. 9 Oregon State for its first double-digit win over a ranked opponent since 2014.
During the 2022-23 campaign, King helped Washington achieve a 12-game improvement from its inaugural season — one of the largest turnarounds in the country. At the end of the year, King was named one of the Most Impactful High Major Assistants in Division I Women’s Basketball by Silver Waves Media, cementing her reputation as one of the most effective assistants in the country.
Throughout her tenure at Washington, King has worked directly with players and collaborated with the coaching staff to scout opponents, prepare game strategy, and organize practices. Across the Pac-12 and Big Ten, King has helped six different Huskies receive All-Conference or Honorable Mention selections, and 11 total selections during that span.
Before coming to Washington, King worked with Langley as an assistant coach at Rice for three seasons. She contributed to three consecutive Conference USA championship teams, as the Owls compiled a 72-16 overall record and a stellar 44-4 mark in conference play during that stretch. She contributed to scouting, instruction, and game planning, which propelled the Owls to national rankings in both offensive and defensive efficiency.
King’s impressive tenure at Rice is decorated with a plethora of team and individual achievements. During her final season in Houston, the Owls won their first WNIT Championship in program history. For her performance throughout the tournament, center Nancy Mulkey earned Tournament MVP honors. She also secured her third consecutive Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year award and was named First Team All-Conference. Mulkey went on to become a two-time Lisa Leslie Center of the Year Award semifinalist and set numerous shot-blocking records during her collegiate career.
The year prior, the Owls posted a 21-8 record, including 16-2 in C-USA action, winning both the regular season and tournament titles. Collectively, the team earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. That season, Rice players collected five C-USA Player of the Week honors (including three consecutive weeks), and two Freshman of the Week awards.
Remarkably, during her first season, King helped the team collect 28 wins and a perfect 16-0 record in conference play. The 28 wins were a new program record, and Rice advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 14 years. The team also achieved a Top 25 AP ranking, peaking at No. 21 in the nation — the first time in Rice history that the Owls appeared in the poll.
Prior to joining Langley’s staff at Rice, King held assistant coach and recruiting coordinator roles at Monmouth and Boston College. In her first season with the Hawks, Monmouth won six of its final seven league games to finish fourth in the MAAC. She also helped recruit and coach three All-Conference selections, a member of the All-Freshman Team, one All-Defensive Team honoree, and three members of the All-MAAC Academic Team.
King began her coaching career at Florida Memorial University in 2010 as an assistant coach before becoming a graduate assistant at Florida State from 2013 to 2015. While with the Seminoles, she contributed to two 20-win seasons and a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances, including a trip to the Elite Eight in 2014-15.
A native of Coral Springs, Florida, King was a three-year starter for Florida Memorial (2005-2009) and served as a team captain in her junior and senior years. In the 2008–09 season, she guided the Lady Lions to their most successful season in eight years. That senior campaign was highlighted by a Sun Conference title and an appearance in the Division II National Tournament.
King graduated from Florida Memorial University in the spring of 2010 with a bachelor’s degree in biology. She is a member of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association.
