Photo Credit: AP
Former South Carolina women’s basketball star Kamilla Cardoso says that she is eager to start her WNBA career. It’s really been a whirlwind week for Kamilla, a national champion 17 days ago, a parade patrol ten days ago, the number 3 pick in the WNBA draft nine days ago, and a Gamecock Gala goer Monday night.
Kamilla says that she wanted to live every moment with the team and enjoy every minute of it, as she knows she has to leave them and that she is going to miss them. She is leaving her old self in Columbia as she is joining the Chicago Sky for training this week. She’s very eager; she says it is like a big girl’s job, and she has to grow up.
Kamilla also credits A’ja Wilson with transition advice, despite the fact that she knows she’s got a strong foundation, all thanks to Dawn Staley. She’s glad of how she has been coached, as she not only learned basketball but also how to be a leader and communicate with teammates. She is also glad to be coached by Wilson, as she is a great coach and she is focused and determined to take the game to another level.
She added that she is looking forward to not only growing her game in the league but also basketball itself as a sport. Kamilla is a 6-foot, 7-inch center who played for the South Carolina Gamecocks after transferring from Syracuse after her freshman year. Cardoso moved to the United States when she was 15 years old and played high school basketball at Hamilton Heights Christian Academy in Chattanooga, Tenn.
In her senior year at South Carolina, she averaged 14.4 points and nearly 10 rebounds a game,as the Gamecocks went 33-0 and defeated the Iowa Hawkeyes for the NCAA women’s basketball championship.
She was named the tournament’s most outstanding player after her 17-point rebound performance against Caitlin Clark and the Hawkeyes. She was a highly recruited talent after playing high school basketball in Tennessee. She chose to attend Syracuse but also considered South Carolina and ultimately decided to play for the Gamecocks.
She is well known in women’s basketball, as she ended her college career as a two-time national champion and a second-team All-American.
