Steph Curry helps South Carolina star MiLaysia Fulwiley improve her game

On December 26, 2024By Littum

Stephen Curry watched the videos.

MiLaysia Fulwiley created magic with basketball.

Curry, a two-time NBA MVP and four-time NBA champion with the Golden State Warriors, asked if he had ever seen anything like it for someone his age as he wrapped the ball around his back for a scoop layup in transition.

Curry was fascinated by her flow on the court and how her layups were artful, elegant, yet assertive.

“Her athleticism, her style and creativity just jumped off the screen,” Curry told The Greenville News. “She had that flashy kind of vibe.”

Fulwiley’s game is unique, but also tied to Curry.

“Confidence is the key, he’s most confident when he steps on the floor, so it motivated me to be more confident myself,” Fulwiley said, admitting she wasn’t immune to the generation of young basketball players whose shooting range isn’t known bounds after sees Curry pull up well beyond the arc.

She was rhythmic and could score from anywhere on the court as a high school star at Columbia. It caught Curry’s eye.

“Very similar to how I play, there’s a flair for the dramatic, a creativity that she always finds a way to express,” Curry said. “She has a killer instinct.”

One lesson Curry learned is one Fulwiley is now committed to mastering: how a flashy player, one so dynamic, fits into a top-tier system.

Therefore, Fulwiley joined the South Carolina women’s basketball team to play for coach Dawn Staley.

Why MiLaysia Fulwiley Chose South Carolina Women’s Basketball

In 2022, Fulwiley played his final season of AAU basketball for Team Curry in Charlotte, North Carolina. That August, she attended the Curry Camp in San Francisco, where the NBA star got a closer look.

The silky smooth moves and offensive dominance made Fulwiley a five-star prospect. She was ranked no. 3 point guard and no. 13 player in the nation according to ESPN’s HoopGurlz rankings before becoming Keenan High School’s all-time leading scorer with over 3,000 career points and a four-time state champion.

She had many college offers, but her mother knew that one of them meant a little more.

Two national championships in five years doesn’t happen with one star, but with an entire roster, and Fulwiley had been the best player on every court she stepped on.

“You need someone who will say no when the time is right,” Phea Mixon told Fulwiley when recruiting staff said her daughter could run the show. “In the transition to college and the WNBA, you have to be able to change and sacrifice some things … you need someone to hold you accountable.”

Staley had no problem with that.

“It’s not addition by subtraction with her, it’s just addition,” Staley said. “We recruited her flash, we knew that’s what she brought to the table. When the flash doesn’t work, you have to have something to fall back on. She knew there was more, she just didn’t know what it looked like , she (came) to a place that understands what her superpower is.”

What Steph Curry said about MiLaysia Fulwiley

Fulwiley, now a sophomore with the Gamecocks, went from a local legend to a transcendent college guard in just one year.

“She knows she’s good, but there’s also humility,” Curry said. “She knows she has a lot more to do and can get a lot better. I like that combination. There are things you can’t teach with her, her ball handling, quickness, athleticism, the way she sees the game, she is fearless.”

In March, Fulwiley became the first college athlete to sign with the Curry Brand — a vehicle for his mentorship, but also a recognition of her skills and accomplishments, which last season included SEC Tournament MVP and a highlight reel full of crafty plays.

Staley, who coached A’ja Wilson to South Carolina’s most decorated player and guided Aliyah Boston to stardom, called the Fulwiley generation after an electrifying performance to start the 2023-24 season in Paris.

“I know about generational wealth, but I was like, ‘Dang, I’m a generational player, I’m legit,'” Fulwiley admitted.

The success last season was quick, steady, though the offseason wasn’t spent seeing her highlights either.

“I can’t let last year define me, I did a lot of smart things, but I want to be more than just a fancy player,” Fulwiley said.

Her game is layered and evolving as she must discover what is already there to move forward. Moments this season like against UCLA on Nov. 24, when too much flash resulted in playing just three minutes, will happen. Other times it will be like the Dec. 13 game against TCU, where 20 points and three steals seemed effortless.

An outside eye might look at her on the bench and assume it hinders her game, but to Curry, “That’s her story, that’s the cool part,” he said. “Everybody has a different journey and she has such a unique perspective on the game … very similar to a Devin Booker story, a player who was apart of a championship-caliber team in college, but a six-man role like MiLaysia is … I think that the sky is the limit for her.”

Staley, the daily voice that reminds her of who she is, and Curry, an embodiment of Fulwiley’s dreams, have become pillars of her metamorphosis. Staley wants both: flash and fundamentals, which requires understanding how Fulwiley learns, meeting her where she is, and then stepping forward together.

“You have to understand when and she’s learning that process,” Staley said. “I don’t expect her to understand it every time I play every game, I just want her to be aware of it … she doesn’t oppose it, she welcomes it because she wants more for herself … it’s never been about ‘don’t do this,’ it’s about ‘add this’ and just compliment what she already brings to the table.”

Every day in Staley’s system is an opportunity to take a step closer to becoming the player and person she always wanted to be, seven miles away from the driveway she spent hours in with nothing but skittles and a basketball.

This is just the beginning.

“To be able to play in a program as good as this, trained under one of the best coaches in the world and be at home at the same time, it just means a lot,” Fulwiley said. “I just know the younger version of me would be so proud of how far I’ve come.”

Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at [email protected] and follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @Lulukesin