Fans Debate Whether Dawn Staley Is Misusing South Carolina Star MiLaysia Fulwiley
The No. 2 ranked South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball team improved to 13-1 in the 2024-25 season after their dominant 85-52 win over Missouri on January 2.
The Gamecocks' leading scorer was superstar sophomore MiLaysia Fulwiley, who finished the game with 17 points on an efficient 7-11 from the field. What's perhaps most impressive about this performance is that Fulwiley led South Carolina despite being sixth in minutes played among her teammates.
Fulwiley's role and playing time on South Carolina has come into question several times this season. And it did once again on Friday when X user @Jay_3shifty wrote, "Fulwiley gets forgotten in all the best player talks, solely because of her minutes and role. Pretty much any other school she’s being talked about with Hidalgo, juju, bueckers, Flaujae.. Im very interested to see how this pans out for her career wise."
Fulwiley gets forgotten in all the best player talks, solely because of her minutes and role. Pretty much any other school she’s being talked about with Hidalgo, juju, bueckers, Flaujae.. Im very interested to see how this pans out for her career wise.
— SSN Jay-O (@Jay_3shifty) January 3, 2025
Not everybody in his comments seemed to share this sentiment, as one fan responded with, "Coach Dawn tells recruits don’t come to SC looking to be freshman of the yr and put up big stats because of SC’s depth. Lay knew that. She trading about 1,000 points and bunch of accolades for a championship (or two). I’m counting on her starting next 2 years, going top 5 in 2027".
Coach Dawn tells recruits don’t come to SC looking to be freshman of the yr and put up big stats because of SC’s depth. Lay knew that. She trading about 1,000 points and bunch of accolades for a championship (or two). I’m counting on her starting next 2 years, going top 5 in 2027
— Coach A.C. Cooley (@CoachACooley) January 3, 2025
"The people who need to know about her already know. They know Dawn's system & respect it. Fulwiley will be fine," another fan added.
Although some fans agree with the initial poster, such as @LSibbitt who wrote, "She gets lost in that teams depth unfortunately. She’s a certified baller."
She gets lost in that teams depth unfortunately. She’s a certified baller.
— Lincoln (@LSibbitt) January 3, 2025
It will certainly be interesting to see how Fulwiley's role at South Carolina continues to unfold.
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.