“OK, I’ve gotta go. Otherwise, I won’t be able to get on this plane,” said a 15-year-old emotional Kamilla Cardoso to her mother, Janete Soares, and her sister, Jessica Silva, when she left her home to pursue her passion for basketball. Who knew that this girl, who knew nothing in English other than, Hi, Yes, and Bye, would be a 3rd overall draft pick in the WNBA! Belonging to Brazil, Kamilla Cardoso left her homeland and covered a long 4000+ miles journey to follow her dreams and become a basketball athlete who could do well with the gifted height from a very young age.

From that time to within a decade, Cardoso became the heart and soul of the Gamecocks. In her quest to catch her dreams, Cardoso’s journey hasn’t been easy, however, worthwhile to get to the point where life awaited her to rise and shine. Let’s explore how she continued on her path when she arrived at college.

Kamilla Cardoso’s college basketball journey

After honing her skills at Hamilton Heights High School, Cardoso, as a college recruit, caught the attention of many coaches including Quentin Hillsman, who described Cardoso as a “once-in-a-decade-kid”, and DeLisha Milton-Jones. ESPN’s No. 5 prospect, Cardoso got to Syracuse because of a connection to the coaching staff through one of her contacts in Brazil. Hence, she became the program’s highest-rated high school recruit ever signed with the program.

Accepting the program’s scholarship, Cardoso kicked off her collegiate career in 2020. As a freshman, Cardoso started 22 games and averaged 13.6 points, 8 rebounds, and 0.7 assists per game. That season, her clutch performance came when she scored 24 points and 7 rebounds against Boston College. Moreover, she led the team in blocks with an average of 2.7 blocks per game.

She became the team’s first player to receive the ACC Freshman of the Year honor. Along with that, she also won the Co-Defensive Player of the Year and All-ACC First Team honors. Cardoso led the Orange to the postseason national championship tournament play where the team lost the second round to the UConn Huskies in the 2021 NCAA national championship tournament.

Struck with an epiphany, Cardoso decided to transfer to South Carolina, which was one of her original choices to begin with. “Kamilla could have gone anywhere in the country, but she chose to come here. She trusted us enough to come here and continue her career. It means the world,” said Dawn Staley after the University of South Carolina made the announcement.

At that time, Staley described Cardoso’s mobility, rebounding prowess, and scoring ability at her size as a perfect complement to the program. She started off her sophomore season with the Gamecocks averaging 5.4 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks per game. That season, she won 36 games, broke the school record, and won her first NCAA national championship title in 2022.

However, Cardoso was struggling with conversing in English, hence, her South Carolina teammates would call plays in Portuguese so she could understand them. This continued till her senior year when she finally felt comfortable in English. This confidence was reflected in her game as she averaged 9.8 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 0.9 assists per game as a junior.

Building her momentum for her senior year, Kamilla Cardoso tuned into a beast mode and blocked a total of 82 shots throughout the season and averaged 14.4 points, 9.7 rebounds, and 2 assists per game. Hitting clutch moves, she led the team in all statistical categories and won the NCAA Most Outstanding Player honors. Then came the postseason display for Cardoso-led Gamecocks to shine bright.

Cardoso leading the Gamecocks to the championship victory

Finally, it was time for Cardoso to compete in the annual showdown of the 2024 March Madness, the tournament that brought a lot of attention to women’s college basketball in particular. This popularity shot through the roof, turning several players into household names.

One by one, the Gamecocks kept thrashing every opponent that was there in their national championship journey. As a result, they reached the Final Four and played against NC State, which was an underdog team experiencing the Cinderella effect. It was the first Final Four in history that became the most-watched Final Four, where Cardoso scored a team-high 22 points.

Then, the team moved up to the championship game, where Kamilla Cardoso and Co. faced the Iowa Hawkeyes, who were also the previous season’s runner-up. The game turned out to be a blockbuster hit, drawing more viewers than the men’s title game. It was a record-breaking viewership of 24 million, watching Cardoso leading the Gamecocks to a perfect season, becoming the first undefeated national champions since 2016.

“It was amazing…I just wanted to get out there in this tournament and just play really well for my teammates, for my coaches, and to win the championship. So I think that’s what I did,” Cardoso expressed her thoughts on her team’s performance in the postseason.

Doing what she always dreamed of, Kamilla Cardoso has a long way to go as there are many big milestones to cover for her in her journey as a pro basketball athlete.

Stay tuned for more such updates and join us for the exciting second episode of the “Dual Threat Show” as our host BG12 sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and Mountain West All-Freshman Team Selection, Asia Avinger