South Carolina is losing one of its brightest young stars to the transfer portal.
MiLaysia Fulwiley plans to leave South Carolina and transfer, her mother confirmed to The State on Friday afternoon. The Greenville News was the first to report the news.
Fulwiley just ended her sophomore college season Sunday when the Gamecocks lost to UConn in the national championship game. She scored nine points in 18 minutes. She has two years of eligibility remaining.
The Columbia native has often been called a “generational talent” by Dawn Staley during her two years with the program. While she was known for her flashy highlight capabilities and improved on defense this year, she showed signs of streaky shooting and had turnover troubles down the stretch of this season.
It appears Fulwliey, who was ninth on the team with an average of 18.9 minutes per game, could be on her way out in search of more playing time and an expanded role.
Fulwiley played in 76 games across those two seasons with the Gamecocks and helped win a national title during her freshman season last year. She provided a spark off the bench, starting just three games, and was named the SEC’s 6th Woman of the Year this past season.
Fulwiley was second in scoring for the Gamecocks this year, averaging 11.8 points per game. In addition to her on-court skills, she is one of the most marketable athletes in women’s college basketball.
Fulwiley became the first college athlete to sign a name, image and likeness deal with the Golden State guard Stpehen Curry’s Curry Brand in March 2024. Last month, Curry walked into Chase Center wearing Fulwiley’s “Playa Society” T-shirt that shows a caricature of her in her Gamecock uniform.
Fulwiley has her own shoe with Curry, the Curry Brand Grade MF12 “Butta” which dropped shortly after the Gamecocks’ victory in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. This is her second pair of Curry Brand shoes released this year. In February, the Curry “FamLAY” Garnet and Black shoes were released and those were the ones she wore in Friday’s game.
Fulwiley also has a deal with Red Bull.
Some fans believe Fulwiley has been underutilized at South Carolina and took to social media with calls for her to enter the transfer portal. Those calls reached a crescendo when she played just three minutes when the Gamecocks lost to UCLA in late November.
“It’s her process,” Staley said a few days after the game. “Everybody has a process. And everybody wants to say ‘transfer,’ but we trust over here. That’s with everybody. MiLaysia and I are good. Other people ask about issues and what is going on here, but our house is tight.”
The calls from fans picked up again in the last week after South Carolina added another dynamic scorer from the transfer portal. The Gamecocks picked up a commitment from the nation’s leading scorer Ta’Niya Latson on Tuesday, leaving many to wonder if there’d be enough minutes to go around after Raven Johnson also announced she’d be returning to South Carolina.
Fulwiley was a five-star recruit, a McDonald’s All-American and the nation’s No. 13 prospect when she signed with South Carolina the 2023 class. She was a high school star locally at Keenan where she helped the Raiders to four state championships and scored over 3,000 points in her high school career.
