'Best move in all of basketball': Fulwiley impresses Magic Johnson, Kevin Durant

November 7, 2023 ndowd

Alexa Philippou, ESPNNov 6, 2023, 04:16 PM ET
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- Covers women’s college basketball and the WNBA
- Previously covered UConn and the WNBA Connecticut Sun for the Hartford Courant
- Stanford graduate and Baltimore native with further experience at the Dallas Morning News, Seattle Times and Cincinnati Enquirer

On the opening day of college basketball, a player appearing in her first collegiate game took the basketball world by storm.

South Carolina Gamecocks freshman MiLaysia Fulwiley wowed hoops fans on Monday with a coast-to-coast layup late in the second quarter of South Carolina’s 100-71 win over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The play went viral.

It got the attention of basketball legend Magic Johnson and Phoenix Suns star Kevin Durant.

I’m watching the women’s basketball game between South Carolina and Notre Dame right now and I just saw the best move in all of basketball including the pros like LeBron, Steph, KD, Victor, and Jokic. Everyone must see the coast-to-coast, behind-the-back move by freshman guard…

— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) November 6, 2023

Hidalgo and Fulwiley moving DIFFERENT out here, turn on ESPN

— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) November 6, 2023

“[The opposing defender] looked like she was confused whether to pick me up or not pick me up,” Fulwiley told ESPN’s Holly Rowe after the game.

“So I was just like ‘all right.’ I just felt like I was in high school, and that was my favorite move when I was in high school, so I just did it. Then I saw the defender coming up and so I had to fake like I was dishing it to Kamilla [Cardoso] because she was being dominant and then I just laid it up.”

“THE EIFFEL TOWER IS SHAKING”!! OH MY GOODNESS 😱 pic.twitter.com/mpxRrCrS7y

— South Carolina Women’s Basketball (@GamecockWBB) November 6, 2023

Fulwiley, a 5-foot-10 freshman from Columbia, South Carolina, earned high praise from Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley as “generational” before she arrived on campus. She dunked in a high school game earlier this year. The No. 13 recruit in the country figures to be a key player for South Carolina as it enters a new chapter following the departure of No. 1 overall WNBA draft pick Aliyah Boston and five other core players.

Fulwiley joined four other Gamecocks in double figures, finishing with 17 points (second most on the team behind Cardoso) on 8-of-14 shooting (including 1-of-4 on 3-pointers). She also had six assists and six steals.

We’ll leave this right here 🫣 pic.twitter.com/rufrNc6jS6

— South Carolina Women’s Basketball (@GamecockWBB) November 6, 2023

“I think it’s really just the practice, the days where I wasn’t doing so good and the days where I was doing good,” Fulwiley told Rowe after her impressive debut. “I just made sure to stay positive and make sure I knew what I’d be able to do when I get out here on the court, and how things would turn out well for me every time.”

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