One-On-One With MiLaysia Fulwiley, South Carolina’s Freshman Highlight-Reel Sensation (Exclusive)

It didn’t take long for South Carolina freshman MiLaysia Fulwiley to make a name for herself. Just 17 minutes into her first collegiate basketball game back in November — a 100-71 win over Notre Dame played in Paris, France — the 5-10 guard pulled off a move that became an instant highlight and even caught the attention of Magic Johnson. Now, nearly two months later, No. 1 South Carolina remains undefeated (14-0), with Fulwiley averaging 11.7 points. 

The Messenger recently caught up with Fulwiley to discuss getting offered as a seventh grader, her transition to college and what it was like growing up in Columbia, South Carolina. This Q&A has been shortened and lightly edited for clarity. 

The Messenger: A few icebreaker questions to get us started ... If you were stranded on a deserted island, what three things would you need to have with you?

MiLaysia Fulwiley: My phone, a portable charger that never dies so I can stay on my phone and some food. Pizza and wings — that counts as one.

The Messenger: I’ll allow it. If your South Carolina teammates were with you on the island, who would be the one responsible for starting a fire? 

Fulwiley: Probably Kamilla (Cardoso). 

The Messenger: Who would be hunting and gathering for food? 

Fulwiley: Probably me, Ash (Ashlyn Watkins), (Sahnya) Jah and (Sania) Feagin.

The Messenger: Who would be most worried about getting off the island? 

Fulwiley: Chloe (Kitts) and Breezy (Bree Hall). 

The Messenger: What's your favorite pump-up song?

Fulwiley: I like any song by Lil Baby. Yesterday I listened to Right On before a game. That song is kind of old, but it had me lit.

The Messenger: Are you a coffee drinker?

Fulwiley: No, absolutely not. 

The Messenger: Never?

Fulwiley: Never. I drink the little frappuccinos at the store but that's as close as it's going to get. 

The Messenger: What's the best piece of advice you've ever gotten and who gave it to you? 

Fulwiley: What's done in the dark will always come to light. My old coach told me that. 

The hard work you put in when the lights are off, when the camera isn’t on, it's going to show when everybody's watching. 

The Messenger: Have you decided what you're majoring in yet?

Fulwiley: I was doing sports management, but I felt like that was too much sports. I would go to practice, I would go to weights and then go to class. I was like, 'Nah, I can't do this.’ It just felt like sports was my whole day. 

So I switched my major from sports management to retail and fashion. So now I can mix it up and balance it a bit better. 

The Messenger: Zooming out: I want to go back to your early years. What did your introduction to basketball look like and when did you realize it was the sport for you?

Fulwiley: I used to dribble a basketball on the porch at my old house when I was really, really young. That's when I realized I liked basketball. And that's when my mom realized I liked basketball. My auntie told my mom about a church basketball league and my mom signed me up. I started going to practice and I never stopped. 

Eventually I started playing on both a boys’ and the girls’ team — playing two games on one day — and I was a star player on both teams. That's when I realized, 'Dang, maybe I'm actually good and maybe this is the sport that's gonna get me somewhere in life.' 

The Messenger: Do you remember when you realized that South Carolina — the university in your hometown, just a few miles away — had a really, really good women's basketball team? 

Fulwiley: I think it was around eighth grade that I knew the Gamecocks were actually really good. And that they were right here, right down the street. 

I went to games when I was younger and it was so inspirational, just watching them playing on the court that I could play on, once I got older. People would see me at a store or see me around Columbia — before I even committed — and they'd be like, 'Oh, that's the girl who's going to play for South Carolina.’ 

The Messenger: Did you feel a lot of pressure knowing that — because South Carolina was so good — the bar to get recruited there was so much higher? It's not just any old college down the street that any good player could play at. 

Fulwiley: Oh, definitely. But, personally, you want to go to the best team in the country. So just knowing that they have a great coach, Dawn Staley, and a great coaching staff … It didn't really make me nervous, it just made me want it even more. I knew that, on any given day, they could pop up at one of my games because they were just down the street. So that happened pretty often. 

The Messenger: Do you remember the first time you realized one of South Carolina’s coaches was in the stands watching you play?

Fulwiley: I think I was in seventh grade. We were playing in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Dawn (Staley) was at my game and that's when I first got an offer from her. I got offered from her and Ole Miss at the same time.  

She (Staley) was just sitting on the baseline. And my mom was like, 'Look! Look!' And I was like, 'Oh my God,' I couldn't believe it. 

The Messenger: How did you find out that she had made an offer? 

Fulwiley: I got the offer the same exact day that she came to my game. After the game, we were in a huddle and my AAU coach was like, 'I want to say congratulations to one of our players, MiLaysia Fulwiley, who picked up two offers this weekend from South Carolina and Ole Miss.' 

I was just like, 'Wow, that's crazy.' Everybody was just so happy for me. I'm just a humble kid, but I was excited. I couldn't stop smiling. I was so happy. 

The Messenger: I was wondering what you remember from when another hometown player — A'ja Wilson — got her own statue on South Carolina’s campus back in 2021? I know it was a really special moment for the school and the program, but also the city.

Fulwiley: I was in high school when it went up. I went to school the next day and everybody was talking about it. It was on the news, it was on the radio. It was just inspiring seeing someone from Columbia, South Carolina, come out here and do great things — and get rewarded with a whole statue. It was a good day for Columbia, South Carolina. 

The Messenger: For a lot of college freshmen, moving onto campus involves more than just driving down the street. What did it look like when you officially became a college student this past summer? 

Fulwiley: Oh my gosh, it felt so unreal. When you're moving somewhere and you have to take a plane or it's a long road trip, you have to prepare, like, weeks before. 

But I just started packing up my stuff the week before. I was like, 'If I need something, I'll just drive back home.’

It didn't feel real to me. I'd been waiting all my life to go to the University of South Carolina. It's just down the street but it's different when you have to move into a dorm. So the day when it finally came, my mom was excited. I was excited as well, but I was also scared, really scared. 

I was, 'Wow, I'm literally about to leave my house, leave my sisters.' Like, the path I'm going on, I don't ever want to come back. Like, I want to come back, but not to stay and live in this house, you know what I'm saying? It felt like the last time I was living under the same roof with my sisters so I just gave them big hugs.

I have a longtime friend who is my roommate, Ashlyn (Watkins), so I felt at home as soon as I got here. It’s been great. 

The Messenger: You mentioned the path that you see yourself on. Where do you hope that path leads you in the future? 

Fulwiley: I would like to play in the WNBA and live wherever my team is. And eventually my mom could come, hopefully. But I also want to buy my mom a house down here. And hopefully I can play overseas during the WNBA offseason — if I’m healthy enough.

And I want to support basketball here in Columbia, South Carolina, considering the fact that there's a whole lot of good players from South Carolina. Oh — and support my sister (Jayla). She plays basketball as well. 

The Messenger: How was the transition to college basketball? What were your first few days of practice like? 

Fulwiley: It was tough for me. The first couple of days when you get to college, you can't practice with the team til your paperwork goes through. So for the first three days, I was just watching practice and I was like, 'Ok, this shouldn't be too bad.' 

But then, once I got onto the court … At the college level, you have to do all of these specific things. You have to pay attention and watch the details. It's just nothing like high school. So I got on the court, not paying attention to the instructions, and it was my turn to go. And I was just looking confused. 

And Coach Staley was like, 'This is not what we do here, I'm not tolerating this.' She didn't take nothing from none of us freshmen. So we had to run ... I was like, 'I'm sorry guys.' So after that, I just had to lock in. 

I feel like the biggest transition from high school is just listening and just doing the small details because, in college, everybody's on the same level. It's just about listening to what the coaches are telling you and actually executing what they want you to do. 

The Messenger:  I remember after that historic first game you played in Paris, Coach Staley mentioned that you had a rough practice the day before and that you were still working on developing your practice habits. What has that process looked like for you?  

Fulwiley: It's still a process to this day. Seriously. I still have a lot of bad days. But as long as my good days outweigh my bad days, she (Coach Staley) said that's good. 

My defense wasn't up to par so I sat out a game and I watched my team fight for a win and they won. At first I was confused because I was actually doing good in practice, but then, when she broke it down for me, I came to the realization like, 'You're right, I don't do that as well on defense.' It's not all about offense. 

I feel like I did a great job, just taking her feedback and just working hard in practice every day. But there are always other things. Now I need to worry about my turnovers and being help side defense — all the small things. 

The Messenger: It sounds like you can't have a big ego and have to be very humble coming into this program. 

Fulwiley: Definitely. For sure. If you have a big ego, you're just not gonna work here. You're just not going to fit in because everyone is just all in for each other. 

We're trying to win a championship, at the end of the day. So whatever the coaches need us to do, that's what we're supposed to go out there and do. And it shows in practice: we go hard in practice, we compete. But it's a healthy competition. 

The Messenger:  On the outside, I don't think most people expected that South Carolina — after losing such a big class of seniors (aka ‘The Freshies’) — would be undefeated at this point in the season. What were your expectations and the team’s expectations coming in?

Fulwiley: As a team, we knew people thought that we weren't going to be as good. But the coaches never said anything about it, they just tried to prepare us. They told us, 'It's not going to be a joke, these people are going to be coming for you.' 

And I feel like we did a great job preparing for the season. I haven't stopped working since I got to South Carolina, ever since my paperwork cleared.  

We've been in the gym, we've been on the field, we've been on the volleyball beach.  We've been putting in that work. So we all knew we were gonna be good. We would talk about it in the locker room like, 'Yeah, we're gonna be good this year. People sleepin’. It's gonna be crazy when we wake them up.'

None of the coaches ever brought up us being (ranked) No. 6. I think they said it one time, like, 'Y'all seen the AP rankings? Let's get to it.' That's all they said and then we started practice.