My Signature: Mikiah Herbert Harrigan reflects on college career and pro future

Mikiah Herbert Harrigan made the most of her senior year, and now she hopes to ride that momentum into the WNBA. She was part of South Carolina’s national championship team as a freshman in 2017. She was spectacular in 2019-20, helping the Gamecocks win SEC regular-season and tournament titles and finishing with a No. 1 final ranking, while earning Second-Team All-SEC honors. She earned a reputation as a menacing shot blocker as well as potent offensive force with good range. Now she hopes to fulfill a lifelong dream of playing professionally as the WNBA holds its annual draft on Friday, April 17.

I first dreamed about playing professional basketball when I was a little kid. I’d say it was when I was seven or eight years old.  Knowing this could happen is pretty big. Coming from where I come from, a lot of people don’t make it that far.

Coming into college, I always believed I could play at the next level. Going up against players like A’ja (Wilson) and Alaina (Coates) every day in practice when I was a freshman helped me get to the level that I’m at now.

I never really doubted myself. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication. I just kept working hard to reach that goal. I’m just looking forward to getting drafted and having the opportunity to compete for a spot on the roster in the WNBA.

I think the biggest adjustment to being a professional athlete will be being on your own. You have to take care of your body because it’s a lot of games in a short space of time. I’ll have to use my time wisely. I’m looking forward to competing against the best athletes that are out there.

My best memories at South Carolina are winning the national championship, obviously. I have a lot of great memories of my teammates, from my freshman year to my senior year. I’m still in constant contact with some of my teammates from my freshman year.

This year, I had a lot of confidence in myself. I focused on my maturity on and off the court. Just knowing it was our senior year, Ty (Harris) and I had to lead that young group that we had. I just tried to lead by example.

What I’ll remember most about my senior was how much fun it was going out there and competing with my sisters. It was a really fun year. I had a lot of fun playing with them.

We’re pretty privileged at South Carolina. The coaches communicate with the players a lot, and they’re great people. The whole program is surrounded by great people – people that want to see you do good things. Every program isn’t like that. Coach (Staley) keeps it real with you. She won’t let you settle for less. She is a pretty funny person and a fun person to be around. She is always helping you out. You can talk to her about anything.

I think I’m going to miss a little of everything (from South Carolina) – coaches, players, and all the people that have been around the program. They’ve been great to me in my time there.

I hope that they’ll miss me, too, and remember me as a great player and great teammate, and overall a good person.