‘Mad Kiki is the best Kiki’: How Mikiah Herbert Harrigan learned to channel her anger
A year or two ago, the words “mad Kiki” might have given Dawn Staley pause. South Carolina women’s basketball forward Mikiah Herbert Harrigan, nicknamed Kiki by her coaches and teammates, had all the talent of an elite player. But her temper could be ignited easily. And when it was, her level of play could suffer.
“The basketball part wasn’t an issue,” Staley said. “It was probably just being mentally focused and tough and playing through some stuff was her issue.”
But as Herbert Harrigan led the Gamecocks to an SEC tournament title Sunday, scoring a team-high 15 points and swatting three shots in a win over Mississippi State, the words “Mad Kiki” were everywhere — plastered on fans’ T-shirts and signs, all over social media, spoken over and over again in Bon Secours Wellness Arena. And by game’s end, she was on a stage at midcourt, being recognized as the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.
All that very nearly didn’t happen. After USC was knocked out in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament last season, Herbert Harrigan met with Staley and then put her name in the transfer portal. It took another meeting with Staley and some convincing before she decided to return to the Gamecocks.
“We can go back a few months, when she said this isn’t the place she wants to be, this place doesn’t make her happy,” Staley said Sunday after the two celebrated in a cloud of confetti. “I did make sure I got to her after the game and I just said, ‘Kiki, I know you didn’t envision this a few months ago.’
“She said, ‘I didn’t, but now I’m a believer.’”
After miscommunication, anger and confusion, Staley and Herbert Harrigan committed to doing things right in her senior year. They read a book on leadership together, Herbert Harrigan was named a team captain and Staley consistently praised her growth and maturity throughout the season.
But every once in a while, that temper will flare up. It might start with a hard block, or a questionable foul call, or an opponent getting a little too physical. The result: Herbert Harrigan will get visibly upset.
This year, though, those moments aren’t followed by mistakes or a dip in play. Instead, she plays harder while still maintaining her poise.
And thus Mad Kiki was born. It’s not a nickname so much as it is an alter ego, deployed whenever fans, coaches and teammates see her get that look and watch her take over a game.
“Kiki is always gonna go. She’s got your back no matter what,” junior guard LeLe Grissett said. “But Mad Kiki, that’s different right there. That’s 25 points with ease, you know?”
That emotion and ferocity has made Herbert Harrigan a fan favorite, and she likes the nickname it has earned her.
“Me being able to channel that into my play has helped me a lot this season,” Herbert Harrigan said. “So I’m just really happy that coach, I might have been mad at her sometimes, but she really helped me learn the importance of that.”
Fittingly, Mad Kiki made an appearance Sunday — with just over three minutes left before halftime, Mississippi State’s Yemiyah Morris and South Carolina’s Aliyah Boston were battling for a rebound in the paint. A held ball was called, but after the whistle the two kept at it and appeared to shove a little bit.
Almost instantly, Herbert Harrigan was in Morris’ face, jawing with the 6-foot-6 center. Staley, observing the play from her bench, said she was confident Boston would walk away from the confrontation.
“Then comes Kiki, she wants all the smoke. She wants it all,” Staley said.
“I just gotta stick up for my teammates. I’m not going to let anybody try them. So I’m gonna be there for them,” Herbert Harrigan said. “I just didn’t like what she said.”
After a review, Morris and Herbert Harrigan were each assessed a technical foul. Play resumed, and just over a minute later, Herbert Harrigan swatted a Mississippi State shot attempt out of bounds and let out a triumphant yell. Not long after, she was blocked herself by MSU’s Jessika Carter — as Carter stood over the ball, Herbert Harrigan approached her, seemingly ready to get into it again.
This time it was Boston who swooped in and steered her older teammate away. A couple seconds later, Staley subbed Herbert Harrigan out for the last few moments of the first half.
“I think Mad Kiki is the best Kiki. She gets real mad and then she starts playing harder. I mean, that’s just who she is. She sticks up for her teammates. It gets the crowd riled up,” senior guard Tyasha Harris said. “But we also told her at halftime she can’t get another tech or she has to sit out.”
Up 38-22 at the break, the Gamecocks were in control of the title contest but not assured of anything just yet. Staley needed her leading scorer to avoid an ejection.
“She has it under control. We just explain to her what she means to our team. We lose her, we lose a big part of what we do and who we are,” Staley said.
Less than 20 seconds out of the break, Herbert Harrigan scored with a turnaround jumper in traffic.
From there, she was off, scoring nine points and recording another block in the third quarter before sitting out the rest of the game as South Carolina cruised to its fifth conference tourney title. When she climbed the ladder to snip her piece of the net, Mad Kiki was all smiles.
