Dawn Staley shares first impressions of hometown 5-star freshman MiLaysia Fulwiley
MiLaysia Fulwiley is unlike any other freshman player South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley has ever had.
“She’s different,” Staley said of the five-star freshman out of W.J. Keenan High School in Columbia. “She’s different than all of them. ... The freshmen that came in before her, they just couldn’t do the type of things that she can do with the basketball.”
Thursday marked the first official practice of Fulwiley’s freshman year at South Carolina. Her first experience at Colonial Life Arena came when she was around 8 years old. She watched from the rafters as A’ja Wilson ran from end to end.
A few years later, Staley offered Fulwiley as a seventh-grader. She chose South Carolina last November over Ole Miss, Louisville and Florida.
As the No. 13 player in espnW’s top 100 player rankings, Fulwiley headlines South Carolina’s freshman class. The same rankings had Chloe Kitts, who reclassified to 2022 and came to USC last fall, at No. 17, Tessa Johnson at No. 25 and Sahnya Jah at No. 40.
Fulwiley and her fellow freshmen join a South Carolina team with just six returners. The 2023-24 version of USC basketball looks different without the class of 2019 “Freshies.” How Fulwiley and other newcomers will fit in is still to be determined.
Staley anticipates growing pains, especially with the added pressure on Fulwiley of being a hometown hero. She will struggle at times, Staley said, but look like a fantastic freshman other times. She plays off instinct, which can offer mixed results at the collegiate level. But she is also very coachable and has an undeniable desire to be great.
“We don’t expect her to be perfect,” Staley said. “She’s gonna turn the ball over. She’s gonna take some ill-advised shots. She’s gonna woo us, though. She’s gonna give us everything she gave us as a high schooler.
“But as she progresses, maybe we won’t see as many mistakes. But we’re gonna let her play because that’s what we recruited her to do. We’re just gonna teach her along the way.”
This story was originally published September 29, 2023 at 8:01 AM with the headline "Dawn Staley shares first impressions of hometown 5-star freshman MiLaysia Fulwiley."
