What Dawn Staley said about MiLaysia Fulwiley's transfer from South Carolina to LSU on The Breakfast Club

South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley recently released her new book “Uncommon Favor” and made an appearance on The Breakfast Club this week to promote it.

The wide-ranging interview hit on a number of topics, ultimately arriving on a conversation about a chapter in the book on former Gamecock MiLaysia Fulwiley.

Below is a transcript of that part of interview as Staley talked about Fulwiley for the first time since she made the decision to enter the transfer portal and transfer to LSU.

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Charlamagne:

I love the “Respect, the Power of Habits” chapter. And in that chapter, you speak extremely highly of South Carolina’s own MiLaysia Fulwiley and you even refer to her as a younger, savvier version of you.

You say, and this is a quote: “I heard from so many adults who gave their own parents hell only to see their teenagers return the favor. Now it’s my turn in the barrel.”

So when I read that, I was like, man, she had so much love for Milaysia. What was your initial reaction when she decided to enter the portal? And was it surprising to you?

Staley:

Surprising? No. I think, you know, being in this space, you come to expect the unexpected, right? I still have much love for MiLaysia. Like, much love. I want her happy.

She and her mom came in, and she said, “I think I’m going to get into the transfer portal. “I’m like, “Okay, well, you think or you know?” And she said, “I know.” And I said, “Well, I only want you happy. Like, I really do only want our players happy. Whether that’s with us or somewhere else, just be happy.”

I told her, “Don’t look back. I know it’s probably going to be hard to not look back, leaving your hometown and all that. But 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. And when I say that, people probably think, “Oh…”—but I do. What’s for us is for us. What’s not is not.

Let’s keep moving. I don’t stay in despair. I don’t stay in those spaces for very long—I’m like, okay, we got to get recruiting. We got to get back into this portal to see who we can get to help us.I think she’s going to have a promising career.

I do think she’s a generational talent — that will never leave. Like, she does things on the basketball court that I’ve never seen a woman do.And 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—then it’s on.

She’s going to be super competitive against us. We’re going to want to win, and it’s going to be a pride thing that comes with just being a competitor. And we got much love for her and her family.

Charlamagne:

When you talk about MiLaysia, it is with such reverence. How do you balance disappointment as a coach with support for somebody like her who just wanted to make a decision for herself?

Staley:

If a young person is going to speak on what they deem is good for them, that’s half the battle. You know how hard it was for her to do that? Really hard. So I understand the dynamics of her decision making.

And then it’s like, okay, what do you do with that? Like, if she was my player and there was a chance for her to want to come back, or if she decided that’s not what she wanted to do, I was going to talk to her about why. Why did it come to that? What makes you think this isn’t a place for you? And for whatever she said, we would go from there.

I thought MiLaysia was getting better, like, I really saw a whole lot of growth on and off the court. LSU is going to get the best of her. We went through the hard part of just smoothing some rough edges and getting her to create good habits. I do think habits are the thing that allows you to elevate. So 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.

Charlamagne:

Did she know you felt that way about her? Or is she going to read the book and be like, “Damn”?

Staley:

I want to clarify: the book was written already before she made her decision. The book was written months ago. I’m sure I have shared my feelings — I don’t hide anything. I do think MiLaysia really knows how I felt about her. I know her mother knows.

Regardless of why she came to that conclusion of wanting to leave, I know she knows she felt our love. You know, the playing time, the whatever—for us maybe taking her out of the game when she felt like she wanted to keep playing through some things. She probably questions that part of it, and I’m okay 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 that we give our players.

Charlamagne:

So what’s the relationship with coaches? If Coach Kim at LSU calls you and asks for some tips on how to coach MiLaysia Fulwiley, do you give her any game at all?

Staley:

You on your own. (Laughs). You’re on your own. Yeah, like, I ain’t gonna help you help her beat us. Nah. Nah. (Laughs).

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