South Carolina Basketball: Gamecock star has injury return, WNBA debut scheduled

South Carolina basketball star Kamilla Cardoso followed up her All-American national championship-winning senior season by becoming the 3rd overall pick in the WNBA Draft. The newest member of the Chicago Sky was set for a big role with the team immediately, but she injured her shoulder in the preseason opener, meaning she would not be ready for the start of the season.

The Sky are 1-1 without Cardoso in the lineup, but they have one of the toughest teams in the league next (the New York Liberty) before getting three home games in a row. After that homestand, the Sky could be in for a bit of an unexpected surprise: according to Cardoso, the talented young center will be returning on June 1st for a matchup with the Indiana Fever.

Playing against the Fever means that Cardoso will see a lot of her minutes against former South Carolina basketball teammate Aliyah Boston as Boston, the 2023 WNBA Rookie of the Year, plays the majority of the center minutes for Indiana. It also would be a matchup against Fever rookie Caitlin Clark, a player Cardoso helped beat in the national championship win over the Iowa Hawkeyes. The game is set for national TV on ESPN, so the lights will be bright if Cardoso, indeed, does return.

Nothing official has been announced by the Chicago Sky about Cardoso's return, but the former Gamecock returned to practice on Tuesday, and when asked about Cardoso's announcement online, Sky head coach Teresa Weatherspoon said, "I'm going to go with what Kamilla says. I'm trusting Kamilla."

Originally tabbed as having a 4-6 week timeframe before being re-evaluated, Cardoso will return in fewer than 4 weeks if she plays on the 1st against the Fever.

Former college rival Angel Reese (LSU Tigers) has been getting the majority of the team's minutes at power forward, so upon Cardoso's return, it is likely she will get her first official game action alongside one of her biggest competitors in recent years. The two have seemed to become fast friends with the Sky, and if things go well for the duo, they could become one of the top rebounding frontcourts in the WNBA in the not-too-distant future.