South Carolina women's basketball: It's Kamilla Cardoso's turn for the spotlight

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Kamilla Cardoso is hard to miss. Even on a basketball court, there aren’t too many women who are 6-7. But for most of her first two seasons at South Carolina, Cardoso wanted to blend in.

To some extent, Cardoso could get away with it, the luxury of playing behind the best player in the country, Aliyah Boston. But now Boston is in the WNBA, and South Carolina needs Cardoso to step to the forefront.

After three years of telling Boston to be dominant, now the coaches are preaching the same concept to Cardoso. Dawn Staley called Cardoso the Gamecocks’ “go-to” player and wants her to touch the ball every time they are in the halfcourt.

“It’s hard stepping up into a place in which you’ve just kind of let somebody else do it. You just bring what you can bring to the table,” Staley said. “But when it’s you, you have to be on every day. And that’s a process. I don’t think she was on every day in the beginning, but at some point, she just said it’s me. So she talks a lot more. She’s more energetic. She’s a much better practice player.”

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Cardoso averaged 13.6 points and 8.0 rebounds as a freshman at Syracuse. But after transferring to South Carolina had trouble finding her role as a sophomore, averaging only 5.4 points and 5.1 rebounds during the Gamecocks’ championship run.

Last season Cardoso was much more effective. She earned SEC Sixth Woman of the Year honors and averaged 9.8 points and 8.5 rebounds. But there were many games where Cardoso was passive early and needed a big play to get her going. South Carolina needs her to be more of a self-starter this season.

“Kamilla is being dominant. She’s got to put it on the floor though. She’s putting it in here (in practice),” Staley said. “So next step is to be dominant, every play that she’s on the floor in the game. She communicates extremely well out there. And she has listeners.”

It began over the summer when Cardoso joined Brazil for the AmeriCup Tournament. She led Brazil to the gold medal, beating the USA in the final, and was named tournament MVP. She was more confident and assertive, leading former teammate Laeticia Amihere to comment that “FIBA Kamilla is a whole different vibe.”

Cardoso dislikes talking to the media and declines most interview requests, saying she is uncomfortable doing them in English (I once saw her tell an unfamiliar report, “I don’t understand the question, ask someone else.”). As a result, few people get to experience how charming and funny Cardoso is. 

Her teammates know, and they all seem to agree she is more vocal in practice this season. She is also funny, although Staley conceded sometimes Cardoso’s accent makes her funnier than she intended. 

Raven Johnson and Cardoso were travel ball teammates, and Johnson knows Cardoso better than anyone. She thinks this is the most comfortable Cardoso has looked since they were in high school.

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“I already know what Kamilla brings to the table,” Johnson said. “I feel like this year she’s going to show the world what Kamilla can do. I know what she can bring to the table.”

There are believers. Cardoso is a preseason first-team All-SEC pick, and in a recent mock draft ESPN had her going fourth overall. Looking towards the WNBA, Staley wants to see Cardoso expand her game this season

“We’ve got to get her taking some midrange shots,” Staley said. “She’s wide open. She’s got a pretty-looking shot. We’ve got to get her to have a really good understanding that it’s going to help us right now and her right now, and then moving to the next level she’s going to be able to at least take that outside shot because it’s a ten-footer. Something that she practices all the time. She’s got to practice taking them. We actually force her to take them in practice now.”

In the exhibition against Rutgers, Cardoso was the player Staley wants to see. She had 17 points (on 8-11 shooting), five rebounds, and four assists in just 18 minutes. The next step is to do it every game.

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