Dawn Staley Discusses South Carolina's MiLaysia Fulwiley Maximizing 'Her Superpower'
Despite having one loss on their record, the No. 2 ranked South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball team is still considered a favorite to win the 2025 NCAA National Championship.
A main reason for this is that Dawn Staley's roster is exceptionally deep, with 10 players consistently getting minutes (all of whom would likely be starters at just about every NCAA program).
One player who fans would likely prefer to be starting but has been coming off of the bench is sophomore superstar MiLaysia Fulwiley, who has been praised by huge names in the basketball community for her creativity, athleticism, and grace on the court.
Dawn Staley is well aware of how talented Fulwiley is and realizes how important the sophomore is to her team's success when she is playing well. And the three-time NCAA champion coach spoke about Fulwiley coming into her own in a December 23 article from Lulu Kesin of The Greenville News.
“It’s not addition by subtraction with her, it’s just addition,” Staley said of Fulwiley's game. “We recruited her flash, we knew that was what she was bringing to the table. When the flash isn’t working, you have to have something to fall back on.
"She knew there’s more, she just didn’t know what that looked like, she (came) to a place that understands what her superpower is," Staley continued.
NBA star Steph Curry is helping South Carolina women's basketball star MiLaysia Fulwiley get even better for coach Dawn Staley https://t.co/pByqYEgV72
— The Greenville News (@GreenvilleNews) December 23, 2024
Staley has clearly been happy about Fulwiley's growth with the Gamecocks this season, although this hasn't translated into Fulwiley receiving more playing time.
However, Fulwiley still has several more NCAA seasons to keep finding and building upon her "superpower".
Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.