MiLaysia Fulwiley is officially a Tiger now. The 20-year-old made her debut with LSU Thursday evening in an exhibition game against Mississippi College and put in a performance that proves she still has plenty of room to grow — but that her future with Louisiana is bright.
Mulkey said as much while speaking to reporters following the game. She emphasized that the expectation is for Fulwiley to grow into a true point guard, which is not too dissimilar from the role Dawn Staley seemed to envision for her during her time at South Carolina. Fulwiley left the Gamecocks one day after Ta'Niya Latson announced her decision to transfer to the program.
At the time, Fulwiley explained she wanted to "go to a program where I could still compete for a national championship, and still play for a great coach, and a coach that kind of knows what they’re doing." Those words were interpreted by some as a shot at Staley and the team with whom Fulwiley lost 82-59 to during the Final Four Championship game.
But at this point, it does anyone little good to reflect on the past — another point Mulkey seemed keen to make. She praised Fulwiley's "speed and quickness" as well as her "unbelievable hand-eye coordination" before comparing her to teammate sophomore Jada Richard, who Mulkey said has been a point guard "all her life."
The expectation is that the duo will share court time, but Mulkey made it clear that's something Fulwiley will need to grow into. While she said Fulwiley "can really harass the ball handler," she added, "I want her to extend her minutes. I want her to understand you need to play more minutes for longer periods of time."
LSU put on a show against Mississippi College
Exhibition games aren't the best measuring stick in terms of how great a team will or will not be during the regular season, but it's not fair to entirely ignore the performance either. The Tigers racked up a massive 148 points — the most since Mulkey began coaching at the school in 2021 — and even bested a 2023 regular season game in which they hit 133.
Fulwiley played the game as a reserve and didn't get to stretch her legs quite as much as fans might have wanted her to, but she racked up 17 points (13 of which she scored during the second half).