Let’s start with the drama, because what else comes to mind first when thinking about South Carolina star freshman Milecia Fulwili?
You know the one. The season opener is in Paris against No. 10 Notre Dame. With just over two minutes left before halftime, Fulwilli caught an inbounds pass and began darting down the field. When she got to the three-point line, three defenders were inside, but nothing could stop her. Fulwilli dribbles, takes the ball from behind and lifts it. For a moment, it looked like she was going to attempt a tackle layup on the right side of the rim. But then she scooped the ball to her left and flipped it with her right hand with perfect spin, sending it falling into the hoop. “The Eiffel Tower is shaking,” ESPN’s Ryan Ruocco said on the air.
Fulwili Military 👀
Handle+Finish…
🎥 @GamecockWBB pic.twitter.com/cpWoj7M4ed
— The Athlete (@TheAthletic) November 6, 2023
The dazzling performance thrilled an audience of 3,200 and hundreds of thousands of television viewers. Kevin Durant was surprised by the move and reported it on Twitter. Magic Johnson tweeted that it was “the best move in all of basketball including pro players like LeBron, Steph, KD, Victor and Jokic” and urged his 5 million followers Watch the replay. Admittedly, this is eye-popping. But to those who know Fulwilli best, the sequence is not surprising.
I’m watching the women’s basketball game between South Carolina and Notre Dame right now and I just saw some of the best action in all of basketball featuring pros like LeBron, Steph, KD, Victor, and Jokic. Everyone has to see the freshman back in action from coast to coast…
— Alvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) November 6, 2023
“This kind of game is routine for her,” South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said.
“We’ve seen that game 1,000 times,” said her high school coach, Reggie McLain.
“She’s special. I haven’t seen a kid play like her,” added Ashley Reeves, her junior coach at Curry.
Even though she’s just a freshman, Fulwili has been making magic happen on the court in Columbia, South Carolina, for as long as she can remember. She grew up 13 minutes from the university campus. Long before she used Colonial Living Arena as her stage, she was creating and recreating highlights in the driveway of her three-bedroom home and in nearby Crane Forest Park. She would watch YouTube videos—usually of LeBron James, Columbia native Seventh Woods or other mixtape stars—grab a ball and experiment on her own. She would tell her sisters, Zyana and Jayla, to sit on the porch and count down from five. “One day the cameras will be on me and I’ll be just like everyone else I see on YouTube,” Fulwilli said of her thoughts.
In daylight and darkness, on a strip of concrete or the surrounding grass, at the goal in front of the house or behind the house, she imagined nailing the buzzer-beating shot. She played in the park until she could no longer see the rim. She practices cross combinations and spin moves. Eventually, in high school, the 5-foot-10 guard started practicing dunks. (Yes, she could throw it away.) “You’re going to be a special person,” her mother, Phea Mixon, told her.
Fulwili’s highlight, however, is a reminder that just because something is routine for one person, doesn’t mean it’s replicable for others. At the end of his seventh-grade season, McLean invited Fulwiley to join W.J. Keenan High School’s varsity playoff team. The University of South Carolina and Mississippi offered her scholarships before the school year ended. As an eighth-grader, she competed full-time on the high school varsity team. Keenan has won four state championships and has five championship games on her roster.
Those who know her best say that great talent does not come with great ego. Mixon described her daughter as humble. Staley described Fulwilli as low-key and sometimes even shy. “We have to tell her that you are not an ordinary young man,” Staley said. Fulwili, 18, knows she still has a lot to learn. As comfortable as she is flying above her defender, she reminds herself to stay steady. Even as her aerial acrobatics go viral, she remains grounded. “I can control how I want to feel,” she said. “My mom told me, ‘Don’t be too stubborn because you might lose everything.'”
As Fulwili climbed the rankings, eventually ranking No. 13 in ESPN’s Class of 2023 and surpassing her defenders, Mixon often prioritized her daughter’s opportunities over her own customer service career . She prioritized attending games and college visits in Fulwili. “I really hope MiLaysia secures her future because once I saw how special she was, I knew things were going to change,” Mixon said. She told her daughter that through hard work, Fulwili could achieve what she aspired to achieve.
Fulwili noticed her mother’s efforts. “It means a lot to me,” she said, “just to know that my mom cared enough about me to stop what was going on in her life (and) sacrifice.” There’s no chance Mixon missed the Fulville game in high school or college The number of times can be counted on one hand.
As competitive as she was off the field—McLean said Fulwili didn’t even like losing in kickball competitions—she largely maintained a singular focus. “Basketball is my only hobby,” she said. In elementary school, her answer to the question “What do you want to be when you grow up?” was always a professional basketball player. She excelled at youth events. Fulwili recalled trying to shoot a 3-point shot in a boys’ church league when she was only 6 or 7 years old. She wondered if she was dreaming because she attempted a shot that even she thought was audacious. of shooting. In sixth grade, she scored 60 points in a game, but her team lost 70-71. Now, she calls her $60 a “waste” because of the result. However, this also brought her more attention.
In WJ Keenan’s final home game, senior Milaysia Fulwiley had a strong performance to help the Raiders advance to the third round of the 2A playoffs.
Fulwiley, who has surpassed the 3,000-point career mark, received some special equipment at halftime.@MilaysiaF @wjkeenanraiders pic.twitter.com/nEOVX0OMJg— Reggie Anderson (@ReggieWLTX) February 18, 2023
When McClain first watched Fulwili play as a seventh-grader, he saw a player who stood out among his peers. He observed her elite athleticism, prodigious basketball IQ and competitiveness. Fulwilli described the engine as “go-go-go.”
That spring, McLean put her on the high school playoff roster, and she immediately dominated practices, taking over one-on-one drills. But, McLean added, she was “very quiet.” It didn’t bother her that teachers, trainers and other coaches poked their heads in the gym to watch her play.
Staley said the success of her program is “based on the kids in our district.” Aja Wilson is from Colombia. Alaina Coates is from a nearby suburb. “No one is leaving the state,” Staley said, “and not having them makes it hard to say no.” The Gamecocks made it hard for Fulwili to say no.
As she thrived in high school and on grassroots teams, her family always imagined her in garnets and black. It started out as a lofty aspiration, but they hope it will be a key step toward entering the WNBA. Mixon said Staley committed to holding Fulwili accountable and helping her reach the next level. The idea of staying home in Colombia also brought her more excitement because her friends and family could easily watch her play. Fulwillie’s now-deceased grandfather, Charles, was a longtime Gamecocks fan. He was wearing school uniform and had a school sticker on his car. He told Fulwili that one day he could see her put on a suit there. In honor of him, she wore jersey No. 12; it was his favorite number.
One morning during Fulwilli’s second week of summer classes in South Carolina, she arrived late to a team breakfast. She said she was only two minutes behind schedule. She thought there would be no results. But she soon realized that being tardy in college was different from being tardy in high school. Staley told her she would not attend practice.
Discipline resonated. “Things like this lock me in,” Fulwilli said. She told her mother: “Dawn won’t play anymore.”
In the weeks and months that followed, Staley continued to emphasize team rules. She stressed to Fulwili the importance of attending class and weight training on time and developing career-ready habits. Even in tense moments, Staley reminds Fulwilli of her potential.
“She would make ‘oohs’ and ‘ahs’ to us,” Staley said. “One move of hers will make me turn away from her. I have to leave it because it’s so good. And then she has something that needs improvement that would make me scream at her. I don’t like screaming at her because She has an angelic look. She doesn’t like to be screamed at, but certain things hit me differently.”
Some of the 18-year-old’s moves even wowed coach Dawn Staley.
In such situations, Staley would correct her, usually prefaced by saying, “That doesn’t mean you’re not a generational talent.”
Fulwili was a star at Keenan in high school. In college, she often excelled, such as scoring 17 points, six assists, and six steals against Notre Dame or scoring 18 points and nine rebounds against Clemson. However, there were also some games where Fulwilli loitered on the bench. In a seven-point win over North Carolina in which she played just three minutes, Staley said Fulwili lost her opponent a few times on defense. She played just 10 minutes and missed all five of her shots in South Carolina’s 24-point win over Missouri State. However, it was then that the coaches saw the trust Fulwilli had in their decisions. “She really enjoyed the process, and I loved that about her,” Staley said.
Fulwili had her best game on Sunday against Texas A&M. She scored 21 points in 20 minutes, breaking through defenders in the pick-and-roll multiple times. Staley said Fulwili’s confidence translated into magic. The No. 1 Gamecocks take on No. 9 LSU on Thursday night, providing another chance to find something surprising. But Staley also emphasized that “the things in between the great plays are where[her]greatness really comes.” In other words, how she makes the ordinary extraordinary.
Fulwili said she had a lot to learn — too much to gush about. Staley noted that Fulwilli can be overly selfless at times and that she has room to “go to the gym a little more.” Fulwilli had nearly as many assists (40) as turnovers (34). Still, she took the feedback well. Staley said once a coach demonstrates it, Fulwili can immediately execute it. “She wanted to be great,” Staley said. “Being great requires listening. It requires doing. It requires vulnerability.”
Fulwili is excited to come to South Carolina and glean knowledge from veterans. Although her stage has changed, she remains true to her roots. She has returned to Keenan three times this season to watch the Raiders play. At one point, she sat at the end of the bench and talked to the players at halftime. Of course, her sister Jayla is still there playing. However, Fulwili’s return is much more than that. “They played a big role in why I’m here today,” she said. “I owe them my support and dedication.”
Even with plenty of aerial attacks, she’s still tied to the ground. To her past. To her family. Go to Colombia. “I can’t tell you how many times I cried,” Mixon said, seeing people screaming her daughter’s name at Colonial Life Arena. She thought about those sacrifices and what her father said: “No matter what you do, you need to make time so your daughter can pursue her dreams.”
“I prayed for a moment like this,” Fulwilli said. In her driveway, she prepared for moments like this, too.
(MiLaysia Fulwiley Photo: Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images)
