Former South Carolina Gamecocks guard and now LSU Tigers junior MiLaysia Fulwiley has made her feelings crystal clear on the transfer decision she made. Just recently on Sunday, Aug. 31, Sports Illustrated published a new episode of their “Around the W” show on YouTube and had Fulwiley as a guest in what was a special edition that dived deep into her young, budding career.
At one point, host Maria Clifton sat down with Fulwiley and asked her what exactly went into her decision-making when she made the choice to transfer from coach Dawn Staley’s Gamecocks to a rival program in coach Kim Mulkey’s Tigers this offseason. For Fulwiley, her reasoning is based primarily on giving herself a fresh atmosphere to play basketball.
“I think South Carolina is a great program, you know, but I’m from there. I’ve been there my whole life. School is like 15 minutes away from my house, 12. So, I kind of just felt like I needed a new environment, a new fresh start. I feel like everybody deserves a fresh start while you’re in college, while you have the opportunity to like just leave. I think that’s the best time to do it, because in the W, you can’t just say, ‘Oh, I want to leave,'” Fulwiley said. (12:12)
“That doesn’t work. So, I think it was more of me just wanting a different environment and just seeing my goals and seeing where I want to be and how those things will align in my career. I felt like that would be the best move,” she concluded.
Fulwiley made the decision to transfer to the Tigers back in April of this year, and had several outlets make the announcement. This comes after she just wrapped up her sophomore year of collegiate basketball with the Gamecocks back in the 2024-25 season. In her last year with Staley’s team, Fulwiley helped her squad finish with an overall record of 35-4 (15-1 SEC).
Prior to 2025, The LSU Tigers and The South Carolina Gamecocks Went Back and Forth For The NCAA Title
Before coach Geno Auriemma’s UConn Huskies won their 12th national championship in the 2025 NCAA tournament, it was actually MiLaysia Fulwiley and the rest of coach Dawn Staley’s South Carolina Gamecocks who won it all in the 2024 national tournament by defeating the Iowa Hawkeyes by 12 points, 87-75. They then ended up losing on their NCAA title defense against the Huskies earlier this year with an 82-59 defeat.
Fulwiley now joins coach Kim Mulkey‘s LSU Tigers, who also recently won their first-ever NCAA championship back in April of 2023 when they toppled the Iowa Hawkeyes as well with a 17-point victory, 102-85. They are now looking to return to that mountaintop with Fulwiley in the upcoming 2025-26 season after they were bounced out of last year’s tourney in the Elite Eight.
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