Dawn Staley makes first comments on MiLaysia Fulwiley’s transfer to LSU
South Carolina head women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley made her first public comments Thursday about former Gamecock star player MiLaysia Fulwiley’s decision to transfer.
Staley spoke briefly about Fulwiley while promoting new book “Uncommon Favor” on ”The Breakfast Club” radio show.
She praises Fulwiley in chapter nine of her book. That led the show’s host, South Carolina native Charlamagne tha God, to ask if Staley was surprised by Fulwiley’s decision to transfer.
“Surprising? No,” Staley said. “I think being in this space, you come to expect the unexpected, right? I still have much love for MiLaysia, much love. I want her happy.”
Fulwiley, who finished second in scoring for the Gamecocks and was the SEC’s Sixth Woman of the Year this past season, announced her decision to leave South Carolina on April 17. A week later she committed to Kim Mulkey and LSU.
“She and her mom came in. She said, ‘I think I’m going to get into the transfer portal.’ So I’m like, ‘OK, well, you think or you know?’ ” Staley said. “And she said, ‘I know.’ And I said, ‘Well, I only want you happy.’ I really do only want our players happy, whether that’s with us or somewhere else.”
Staley’s bit of parting wisdom for Fulwiley seemingly was, “Don’t look back.”
“I know it’s probably going to be hard to not look back to see you leaving your hometown and all that,” Staley recalled telling Fulwiley. “I said, don’t look back. You’re always going to be a Gamecock. You’re always going to be welcomed here. I wish her the best.”
Fulwiley helped South Carolina win a national title during her freshman season in 2024 and provided a spark off the bench, starting in just three of the 76 games in her career. She averaged 11.7 points per game during her two years with the Gamecocks.
“She’s going to have a promising career,” Staley said. “I do think she’s a generational talent. That will never leave. She does things on the basketball court that I’ve never seen a woman do. She’ll continue to do that, and we’ll continue to be happy for her, except the one or two times that we have to play them. ...
“She’s gonna be super competitive against us. We’re gonna want to win, and it’s gonna be a pride thing. That comes with just being a competitor. We’ve got much love for her and her family.”
Staley went on to say that she believes LSU is getting an improved version of Fulwiley, one who had shown strides of growth in her two seasons with the Gamecocks.
“I thought MiLaysia was getting better,” Staley said. “I saw a whole lot of growth on and off the court. LSU is gonna get the best of her now. We went through the hard part of just kind of smoothing some rough edges and getting her to create good habits. I do think habits are the thing that allows you to elevate. I think what we’ve given her and what she’s given us will allow her to have much better days, much more consistent days than she had with us, at her next stop.”
Fulwiley has not yet said publicly why she decided to leave the Gamecocks. It’s possible that Fulwiley, who averaged 18.9 minutes per game (No. 9 on the team), left in search of more playing time and an expanded role.
Staley said regardless of why she decided to leave, she knows that Fulwiley is aware of how highly she’s thought of by her former coaches and teammates.
“I know she knows she felt our love,” Staley said. “Now the playing time, the whatever, the us maybe taking her out of the game when she felt like she wanted to just kind of keep playing through some things. Now she probably questions that part of it, and I’m OK with that. A lot of players leave because of playing time. It’s not for all the other stuff, because we treat them like royalty. We’re probably enablers when it comes to the treatment of our players.”
This story was originally published May 22, 2025 at 1:11 PM.
