South Carolina women's basketball: Get to know MiLaysia Fulwiley

South Carolina Women’s Basketball: News • Recruiting • Schedule • Roster • Stats • SEC • Polls • Scholarships

Get to know guard MiLaysia Fulwiley, the local kid with eyes on being the next great Gamecock.

(Questions have been paraphrased to provide additional context, and the order adjusted to make it easier to read.)

Fulwiley grew up in Columbia and attended W.J. Keenan High School. She burst into the scene in middle school, leading Keenan varsity to a state championship. Ever since it seemed like fate that Fulwiley would be the next great Palmetto State player to stay home and play for Dawn Staley.

Did it feel like destiny to be the next great Gamecock?
Fulwiley: Really, yes. People don’t compare me to A’ja Wilson because she did really great things, but I feel like people compare me to Ivory Latta a whole lot. But she didn’t go to South Carolina. (…) A whole lot of people did a whole lot of great things, but I want to come here and I want to do way more. I want to win two championships. There’s a whole lot of stuff that I want to do that wasn’t accomplished and I feel like I’ve got the chance. 

Do you remember the first game you attended here?
Fulwiley: Yes, I definitely do. The first time I came here one of my grandmas took me, my mom’s best friend, my mom. She was like, I want you to play here. That was before I was even good. We used to sit nosebleed, all the way up, really high. I fell in love with it. That was when A’ja played. I fell in love with the FAMs. It was just unreal. The support was crazy. It was a crazy atmosphere. 

How old were you?
Fulwiley: Like 8, 7.

Do you ever get a moment to be like, Oh wow, I’m actually playing in South Carolina?
Fulwiley: Like after the (pickup) game is over, whether we win or lose, I’m like, dang I’m actually here. Like, this is crazy. Then when the day is over and I lay down I go to sleep I’m like, wow! I wouldn’t want to be nowhere else but here.

There is a lot of pressure on you, but is it good pressure?
Fulwiley: The ones who don’t know me and never watched me play, it’s bad pressure. The ones who actually see me play and know me as a person, it’s good pressure. I’m way sweeter than I look. I’m way chiller and way nicer. 

[Become a GamecockCentral member for $1]

Fulwiley got her first scholarship offer in the seventh grade. In fact. she got two offers on the same day, from South Carolina and Ole Miss, but Fulwiley credits Staley with the first offer, something that stuck with her.

What’s it like knowing Dawn for so long?
Fulwiley: She’s like family. Some people think she’s coach Dawn, I think she’s family. She believed in me before anybody else did. She was my first offer, and she kept in touch. Even when I couldn’t talk to her, I’d see her and I’d give her that look. I love Coach Dawn, but Coach (Jolette) Law is one of my favorites. Me and Coach Law have always had a bond.

Is it easier having known them so long?
Fulwiley: It makes it really easy because I know the expectations that they have for me. I’m not clueless, like, am I doing this right? Am I doing this wrong? What do they want me to do? I can actually ask them. I can talk to them.

The freshies were a generational group. How do you live up to the standard they set?
Fulwiley: They were really, really good. I have faith in us, and I have trust in us, that we’re going to keep up the expectations. They were really different. They were great players and they came in at the same time and they stayed all together. They went through COVID years all of that so I feel like we just need to be able to just take whatever God gives us and go through everything.

Is that a lesson to follow for you and your fellow freshmen? If we stick around and bond together we can achieve something great?
Fulwiley: Yes definitely we always talk about it.  Like, everybody called them the freshies, so we’ve got to think of a name for us, because we can’t call ourselves the freshies. That really motivates us to want to stick around. Me and Sahnya talk about it all the time. We’re going to stick here, we’re gonna stay here, and get through everything.

You don’t have a name?
Fulwiley: Not yet. We’ve got a group chat called the freshies but we can’t take their name like that. We have to change that.

[Win a framed print of the 2022 A&M game]

The group may not have settled on a name yet, but Fulwiley has already sprung one surprise on people. It turns out everyone has been misspelling and mispronouncing her name. ‘MiLaysia” is spelled with a capital L and pronounced with a long I. To keep it simple, Fulwiley said everyone can call her “Lay.”

How was the first month on campus compared to what you were expecting?
Fulwiley: It’s been everything I expected honestly. The hard work. The help we have like, it’s a lot of help. You have everyone helping us, helping us eat, weightlifting, helping us do everything. So I feel like the support is really like what I expected for sure.

How about academics?
Fulwiley: We’ve got one class so far, but looking at my schedule I’m like oh lord! (laughs) I’m ready to go ahead and get prepared. We have tutors, advisors, everything I never had. I didn’t know how much easier it would make my life, if I used those resources. We have no choice but to use our resources here. It’s a great thing. 

What do you do off the court?
Fulwiley: Really just hang out with my family. That’s another positive reason why I came here. I can drive ten minutes away and go home. I live like 11 minutes away. When we have free time, like we get off at 7:00, I can go home for two hours and come back like I never left. I love my family a lot and me coming here makes it (…) easy for them to come to my games. (…) It makes their life easier and it makes my life easier.

[NEW! GamecockCentral Business Network]

What’s it like to have all the support from USC?
Fulwiley: I feel like I’m excited to get here and get things started. When I was in high school we couldn’t get NIL and we didn’t really have help. We never lifted weights, we didn’t have a trainer, nothing like that. I feel like being here with all that help is helping my game grow in all the ways that I didn’t have and I needed to have. It’s going to really help in the long run. S far as NIL, I’m signed to XL Sports. My NIL supporter helps with my deals and stuff. I don’t really have to worry about that. She gets it done behind the scenes and all I have to do is what she says, if I want to do it.

She brings it to you and you say yes or no?
Fulwiley: Yes, literally. It makes the process really easy.

What are your expectations this season?
Fulwiley: To be the best I can be. To be the best version of myself I can be.

Are you practicing at point guard or off the ball?
Fulwiley: I’m working point right now but I think that’s because Raven isn’t here (Johnson was at the AmeriCup Tournament at the time of the interview). I feel like I’ll be both. I’m a scorer. Dawn really just wants me to be comfortable and I appreciate that. She’s really working with me with point guard because I haven’t played point guard, well, AAU since I played with Ashlyn. (…) Back then I was going too fast. I’ve got to learn how to control your team. 

Discuss South Carolina women’s basketball on The Insiders Forum!