MiLaysia Fulwiley’s Mom Is Her Hero: ‘Couldn’t Have Done It By Myself’

MiLaysia Fulwiley, star player for the South Carolina Gamecocks, is grateful for her mother Phellicia Mixon’s support throughout her life. And Mixon, in turn, is incredibly proud of Fulwiley.

In an interview with Gamecocks Online, Fulwiley shared that her mom is her hero.

“My mom definitely was my hero, and I just wanted to show how much I appreciated her waking up early for my games,” Fulwiley said. ”

She went as far as to quit her night job so she could be able to go my games… Just seeing her work hard and make sure we got what we wanted by any means necessary just made me want to do it for her.”

Her family’s support was important to her, Fulwiley said. Her grandmother was always proud of her too.

“I was just so excited to see how much she believed in me and how she had faith in me,” Fulwiley said about her grandmother.

She credits her family for where she is today.

“I couldn’t have done it by myself,” she told Gamecocks Online. “Just having that support system that I had that made me want to go harder and to not get too complacent… I really used to pray for times that I have now. … I’m just proud of how far I came as a person and as an athlete.”

And Mixon is just as proud of her daughter.

In November 2023, a large crowd of fans showed up in Paris to send the South Carolina players off to an away game, Gamecock Scoop reported. Mixon was so happy to see that level of support.

“Knowing that she doesn’t just have me and a couple people that know her, she has a whole village behind her,” Mixon told Gamecock Scoop. “People that don’t even know her past or her story, they just love her as a player and they came so far to support her. Walking into that gym and seeing all those Gamecock fans brought tears to my eyes.”

Mixon was happy that all those years of sacrifices paid off.

“During her career in AAU I had to change a couple jobs, I had to make some sacrifices with my timing and my schedule just to basically be there for her and support her dream, and this is one of her dreams,” she said. “I had to make sure as a mother I could help her get to where she wanted to be.”