‘Tears of joy’ for Kamilla Cardoso in what could be final South Carolina home game
Kamilla Cardoso sat on the press row railing at Colonial Life Arena about 20 minutes before tip-off Sunday.
From there she watched her teammates warm up on their home court for the final time this season. She wore a stoic expression on her face, careful to conceal her emotions from the attentive eyes of media and fans surrounding her. But one could conclude she was deep in thought.
A few moments later she stood up and rejoined her team on the floor. If she had taken that time to soak in the sights, sounds and energy of a USC women’s basketball home game one last time, she wasn’t going to let herself be sentimental for too long — that is, until she was introduced as a starter over the arena’s PA system.
The announced crowd of 14,266 gave her an impassioned ovation. She smiled, waved and wiped tears from her face in the pregame huddle. But by the time she jumped up for the opening tip, she had regained her composure, ready for the task ahead:
Take down No. 8 North Carolina for a trip to the Sweet 16.
Sunday’s second-round NCAA Tournament game — an 88-41 USC win — could have been Cardoso’s final time playing at Colonial Life Arena. The senior is projected as a top-four WNBA Draft pick but is also part of the final class of players able to use the NCAA’s Covid-19 waiver for an extra year of eligibility.
She has yet to formally announce her decision.
“Even though I’m undecided, it was like, ‘Wow, what if this is my last game?’ ” Cardoso said. “It was just emotional.”
“I felt bad for her because I don’t like to see her cry,” Raven Johnson said after the game, “but it’s tears of joy.”
“I was just like, ‘Aww,’ ” Chloe Kitts said. “It was so sad she was crying because we don’t want her to leave. But at the end of the day, she has to do what’s best for her. ... We have no idea what’s gonna happen.”
Cardoso started playing basketball because of her older sister Jessica Silva. Silva picked the sport up at age 7, dragging the younger Cardoso along to every practice while their mom, Janete Soares, worked. Cardoso wasn’t a fan of basketball at first, but onlookers saw her potential and encouraged her to begin a playing career of her own.
“I fell in love with it,” Cardoso said.
At the age of 15, she moved from Brazil to Chattanooga, Tennessee, to play at Hamilton Heights Christian Academy. The only English she knew was “yes,” “no,” “bye” and “hello.”
During that first year of high school Cardoso met Johnson. They played exhibition games together in Atlanta, where Johnson is from — just under two hours from Cardoso’s host family in Chattanooga. Johnson would type plays in English on Google Translate, then click the audio button to relay the information to Cardoso in Portuguese.
Cardoso had a year-long stint at Syracuse after a stellar high school career, where she was ranked the No. 1 center and No. 5 overall player in the class of 2020 and was named a McDonald’s All-American her senior year. When she entered the transfer portal and committed to South Carolina, it helped Johnson decide on the Gamecocks for her collegiate career. She couldn’t and wouldn’t turn down the chance of a reunion. The two became teammates, roommates, classmates and best friends.
“We have so many memories together,” Johnson said. “We do so much together. We eat together, we dang near sleep together. We have the same classes. I see her every second.”
Since arriving in Columbia, Cardoso has won the SEC’s Sixth Woman of the Year Award (2023), been named an All-American by the Associated Press and United States Basketball Writers Association (2024) and chosen as a finalist for the Naismith Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year Awards (2024).
If Sunday was Cardoso’s last game at Colonial Life Arena, Johnson will relish the rest of the playing time she has with her friend, refusing to let the gravity of her (possibly) impending absence hit her until they suit up together for the final time.
Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley reflected on Cardoso’s career and impact at South Carolina after the game. USC encountered a similar situation last year as the Freshies wrestled with whether to stay or go on to professional basketball careers. Regardless of what Cardoso decides to do, Staley knows the South Carolina basketball community will stand beside her.
“Kamilla could have gone anywhere in the country, but she chose to come here,” Staley said. “... She trusted us enough to come here and to continue her career. It means the world, because if it was her last game in Colonial Life Arena, we’re sending her off well, both on the court and the FAMS right before the game. That kind of ovation that they gave her meant that we love her deeply for choosing us.
“Whatever she decides, we’re going to cheer as hard, whether it’s here or whether it’s in the WNBA.”
This story was originally published March 24, 2024 at 4:35 PM with the headline "‘Tears of joy’ for Kamilla Cardoso in what could be final South Carolina home game."
