MiLaysia Fulwiley sent shockwaves across the college basketball world when she decided to leave Dawn Staley’s South Carolina Gamecocks and join rivals LSU Tigers this offseason. Losing Fulwiley is a huge blow for the Gamecocks, but the star guard’s transfer might not necessarily be a bad thing for the reigning SEC champions. Here are three reasons why Fulwiley’s departure could be just what South Carolina needed heading into the 2025-26 NCAA season.
3 Reasons Why Fulwiley’s Exit Could Be Just What Dawn Staley’s South Carolina Needed
1. South Carolina Needs To Try New Formula After Title Defense Fell Short
The South Carolina Gamecocks headed into the 2024-25 NCAA season feeling good about themselves. They entered the campaign with their championship-winning roster from the previous season largely intact. Dawn Staley further bolstered her lineup by adding talented freshman Joyce Edwards.
Things went according to plan for the Gamecocks, who claimed a share of the SEC regular-season title with the Texas Longhorns and captured the SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament for a third straight year. The Gamecocks also reached the national championship game for a second straight season, beating Texas, Duke, Maryland, Indiana, and Tennessee Tech by an average of 19.2 points in the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
Dawn Staley acknowledges UConn’s dominance after South Carolina’s 82-59 defeat in the national championship: “They flat out beat us,” she admits. pic.twitter.com/gna12AMjzA
— AP Top 25 (@AP_Top25) April 7, 2025
All good things must come to an end, though, and that happened for Staley and South Carolina in the NCAA title game against UConn. The Gamecocks had no answer for the Huskies in the final, losing 82-59 to Geno Auriemma’s team. MiLaysia Fulwiley was a non-factor, going scoreless in the first half, and finishing the game with nine points and two turnovers.
2. MiLaysia Fulwiley’s bench role has run its course
Dawn Staley decided to utilize MiLaysia Fulwiley as a key weapon off the bench in her first two seasons at South Carolina. She averaged 11.7 points per contest during her freshman year, helping the Gamecocks win the 2024 NCAA Tournament. Staley opted not to tinker with the winning formula in the 2024-25 season, using Fulwiley as a bench player in all of South Carolina’s 39 games.
However, there was growing tension behind the scenes regarding Fulwiley’s bench role. Staley revealed in her book “Uncommon Favor” that she called out the young guard in front of her teammates because of her attitude.
“MiLaysia didn’t like the fact that she didn’t play a whole lot in a game and was making a stink about it,” Staley wrote. “I had to let her know that one, it doesn’t do me any good to have her sitting on the bench.”
“And two, 90 percent of the time in her short career, she’d been on the floor at the end of the game. You riding the bench means somebody else is getting it done. Be happy for them. Don’t say things you will regret,” she added.
Fulwiley could have been headed for another bench role if she stayed with South Carolina in the 2025-26 NCAA season after the Gamecocks added Ta’Niya Latson through the transfer portal. Staley avoided having a disgruntled Fulwiley in her lineup.
3. Fulwiley’s Transfer Gives Other South Carolina Players Opportunities To Shine Next Season
The South Carolina Gamecocks are starting fresh in the 2025-26 NCAA season. Apart from Fulwiley, starters Te-Hina Paopao, Bree Hall, and Sania Feagin have also left Dawn Staley’s squad. Their departures mean more opportunities to shine next season for South Carolina’s returning players, such as Tessa Johnson and Maddy McDaniel.
Incoming freshmen Agot Makeer and Ayla McDowell may also be given minutes by Staley, with Fulwiley now gone from her usual bench role. The Gamecocks still have plenty of depth to mount another title challenge next season.
KEEP READING: IN PICS: South Carolina HC Dawn Staley Flaunts Quirky Fashion With New Friend in New York Liberty Legend
College Sports Network has you covered with the latest news, analysis, insights, and trending stories in college football, men’s college basketball, women’s college basketball, and college baseball!
