Dawn Staley saw great potential in MiLaysia Fulwiley when she recruited her out of high school. For the South Carolina women’s basketball coach, it was important to push the young player to figure out how to maximize her best attributes on and off the court.

In an article published by The Greenville News On Monday, Staley discussed the recruiting process for Fulwiley. The young player had many offers to play at colleges across the country as her talents drew a lot of attention, but South Carolina stood out from the rest, Staley said.

“It’s not about addition through subtraction, it’s just about addition. We recruited her Flash, we knew she would bring that. If the flash doesn’t work, you have to have something to fall back on,” Staley was quoted as saying.

“She knew there was more, she just didn’t know what that looked like, she (came) to a place that understands what her superpower is.”

Dawn Staley wants to see women’s basketball continue to grow

Dawn Staley believes women’s basketball is on the rise, pointing to the increased value and investment in the sport.

“As far as women’s basketball goes, I saw where we came from. But now we’re at a point where we’re valued a little differently. We’re in high demand,” Staley said.

“We’ve gotten to the point where we’re talking about the current events in our game… If you’re not willing to address the inequalities, we won’t evolve our game.”

Staley is enjoying a strong start to the 2024-25 season with South Carolina, boasting an 11-1 record so far. The Gamecocks are averaging 80.5 points on 46.5% shooting from the field and 35.2% from distance.

On defense, they limit opponents to 55.2 ppg on 36.1% shooting and 34% from 3.

Te-Hina Paopao is the team’s leading scorer with 11.3 points, 2.4 assists and 2.3 rebounds on shooting splits of 49.1% overall and 42.9% from 3. Joyce Edwards, Chloe Kitts and Fulwiley also scored double-digit points per game.

Dawn Staley and No. 2 South Carolina have one game left to close out 2024, hosting Wofford at Colonial Life Arena on Dec. 29 at 2 p.m. ET.