Former South Carolina star Kamilla Cardoso

In March, the South Carolina Gamecocks head coach Dawn Staley and the team surprised Kamilla Cardoso by flying her family from Montes Claros, Brazil, to America. Cardoso left her family in 2016 to play high school basketball at Hamilton Heights Christian Academy in Chattanooga, Tennessee. ESPN’s docuseries Full Court Press included this emotional video of Cardoso meeting her family. Before bringing in her family, Staley addressed Cardoso and the team.

“This is an incredible moment for all of us, for someone who has made incredible sacrifices for her family for the past eight years…the past eight years, just for this game, just for the game that she loves,” Staley said.

“We got a chance to do something pretty special. Kamilla, let’s bring the people who also made that sacrifice for the past eight years. To be away from your family as long as you’ve been away from your family, we wanted to make this day special.”

Kamilla Cardoso’s family was also present with her for the 2024 WNBA draft when the Chicago Sky drafted her at No. 3. Like any young basketball player, making it to the pro leagues had always been her dream. In a 2020 interview with Chattanooga Times Free Press, the center said:

“I gave up time with my family in Brazil to come here and try and reach the highest level possible. This has been home for me now. I want to play in the WNBA one day, and this has been such a good fit for me.”

Dawn Staley highlights Kamilla Cardoso’s sacrifices to achieve her dreams

During individual interviews for the docuseries, coach Dawn Staley spoke on the importance of Cardoso in the Gamecocks roster.

“If we’re gonna win the championship, she is the key,” Staley said. “It’s a heavy load. When you decide to pick up and leave your family, it’s a huge sacrifice and I know she doesn’t want to let her family down.”

The 2024 SEC Defensive Player of the Year explained that having grown up in the bad part of Brazil, her choices were to either make it out elsewhere or stay in it.

“I had two dreams: to make it in basketball to a very high level and to get a better education to give my family a better life,” Cardoso said.

“My mom was a little nervous at the time because I was like 14 at the time and I didn’t speak no English, I was coming from a different country, I didn’t know nothing about the culture.”

Kamilla Cardoso admitted that she struggled in the initial days of the move and even lost 20 pounds as she suffered from homesickness. In the end, it all worked out for her as she wrapped her college career as a two-time national champion. Cardoso played one pre-season game with the Chicago Sky before being sidelined with a shoulder injury. Her regular season debut will be delayed by four to six weeks.