There’s no denying that Dawn Staley’s South Carolina has added some talented players to the roster. Someone like Ta’Niya Latson coming in is going to give them a huge boost. At the same time, the players they’ve lost, such as MiLaysia Fulwiley, can’t be ignored.
In a recent episode of “Quita In The Morning”, the analyst explained why Fulwiley’s departure from SC to join Kim Mulkey’s LSU is a huge loss.
“In a surprise move, a huge surprise to me, they lost their most electrifying player on the court, and her name is MiLaysia Fulwiley,” Quita said. (1:12)
Quita believes that Fulwiley had starter potential and that she could’ve been in the starting lineup for any other team. She said that even in her sophomore or freshman year, she was a potential starter, but didn’t get the recognition with the Gamecocks.
In her opinion, that was one of the main reasons why a 5’10″ guard, as talented as Fulwiley, had to leave the program.
“They [LSU] got a huge talent in MiLaysia Fulwiley and this is a huge loss for South Carolina because we know, how many times have we seen it last year where the starters weren’t really doing anything. MiLaysia Fulwiley comes in the game and all of a sudden, spark.”
Quita praised Fulwiley for her entertaining style of playing the game. She stated that every time she stepped on the floor, she was fun to watch at South Carolina. But after getting slighted for the starting position for so long, she had to make a better decision for herself and join a program that’d give her that nod.
Dawn Staley has always protected her players
Dawn Staley has been the head coach of the South Carolina Gamecocks women’s basketball team since 2008. In that time, she has curated a culture that allows players to express themselves freely, and when things go out of line, Staley steps in to make corrections.
During a recent appearance on CBS Mornings, when she was asked about why she went all guns blazing on the critics who targeted her players two years ago, she said:
“When anybody’s upset or anybody disagrees with anything, that you believe in…you can stick to the facts. And there are gonna be some emotions about what’s taking place. Once you get over the emotional part of it. And you, and you turn it over to the facts. The facts are the facts.”
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Staley believes that nobody should feel privileged enough to target her players, especially when they’re not forming their arguments around facts. As per Staley, whatever opinion one might have of her and her players, only the fact prevails in the end.
The 55-year-old has shown time and again that she can go to any length to protect her players from the media scrutiny. While her style of coaching is very strict and demands a lot from the players, Staley is always the first one to shield them from whatever narrative someone is running in the media.
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