Intro

Camila cardoso was hit with a harsh reality check when she moved to America, but persevering through the struggle helped her achieve her childhood dream.

Early Life

Cardoso for three, Baks it in number five: Camila cardoso’s early life.

At just 14 years old, Camila made a life-changing decision.

From early on it was clear that Camila had a future in basketball.

She was 6’5 by age 12 and gifted well beyond anyone else.

On a basketball court in Montes Claros, Brazil, Camila admitted that basketball was easy.

Back in Brazil, an elementary school, she averaged about 30 points and 20 rebounds per game and as she got older, 5’8 or 5’9 opponents could not guard her.

According to her, just to stand there, run the court, put her arms in the air and shoot.

The reality was that girls basketball in Brazil was not widespread.

This is why Camila always knew deep down that if she wanted to take her game to the next level and really make something out of her playing career, she would have to take a leap of faith and come to America.

But this decision was terribly difficult for her.

She calls herself a big mama’s girl.

She is extremely close with her mom, Janette sorz, and her older sister, so the thought of leaving them behind was very painful, but as a kid, she had to make tough choices.

She did what was going to be best for her future.

The only way she was going to achieve her dreams was coming to America, and when she was just 14 years old she made that life-changing decision.

However, it took a special coach to fight tooth and nail for Camila to actually make that happen.

Basketball Obsession

Number four basketball Obsession.

Her coach went out of her way to help Camila achieve her dreams.

Camila had her eyes set on Hamilton Heights Academy, which was located in Chattanooga, Tennessee, a school half a world away from where she was currently living.

The Story Goes that Hamilton Heights coach Kiki hunt was made aware of this big Brazilian prospect that was interested in coming to learn from her.

So I looked at her video.

She was running up and down the floor as fast as a guard.

She was dribbling the ball, rebounding well, and I mean going and getting the ball, not just standing there.

It seemed like a no-brainer.

However, at the time, the school’s Headmaster wasn’t overly concerned about bringing in overseas talent for the Women’s Basketball team.

He preferred to spend his energy trying to get the boys team better.

Coach hunt argued relentlessly because not only did Camila require a scholarship, but also needed her I20 paperwork to be completed.

In the end, Coach hunt got her away and Camila was on the next flight coming to America.

However, when Camila got to America, she was terribly homesick.

She missed her friends and family, so coach hunt once again took matters into her own hands.

Her home became a team space, regularly housing players throughout her tenure.

Soon the entire team felt like one big family, which was exactly what Camila needed.

Camila didn’t know any English when she arrived from Brazil.

Instead using Google Translate to communicate with teammates and with Kesha and treasure, whom she lived with from the middle of freshman year until graduation.

But in less than a year she was fluent in English.

Basketball Journey

But once Camila had adjusted to playing in America, she was hit with a reality check that required some serious soul searching number three basketball Journey.

Her averages in high school were simply absurd.

However, it took a long, hard journey to get to those Elite splits.

It was clear as day that Camila was Simply Built differently.

Her school teammates have said that they have never seen a girl that tall before.

However, this was both a blessing and a curse, because she was so much bigger than everyone.

Camila never really polished her game and worked on her skill set.

She did have speed and footwork, but it was clear that she had been relying on her height all of her life.

The thing that was missing was the fundamentals.

During her freshman and sophomore years, Camila didn’t understand the purpose of posting up.

She didn’t need it.

During games, opponents easily push Camila off the ball because she never sat down when posting up on defense.

She just stood there straight and Tall with her hands in the air.

Now that worked before, but it wasn’t working in America.

Hamilton height strength and conditioning coach helped Camila improve her footwork by her final two seasons, creating a strong low center of gravity that made it harder to push her off a spot.

In addition to post move drills, Camila also worked on mid-range shooting, defensive movement and layups.

Early on, teammates lob balls up to Camila for layups, but she would miss most of them.

This was an easy way to stack up rebounds, because she would simply get her own rebound and then put it back in.

But clearly this was the solution to her problems.

Score three minutes in ahead to Cardos and she’ll lay it in.

And finally Camila ran one drill where she had to make a layup on one end of the court and then the other back and forth.

She had to score 50 in a certain amount of time.

Another included setting balls in the ground at midcourt that she had to pick up and score.

The layup over the years, drills such as those made Camila Unstoppable.

All of these practice sessions led to her averaging 24.1 points, 15.8 rebounds and 9.2 blocks per game in her senior year.

Yeah, you heard that right, 9.2 blocks, a game that is simply absurd.

She was selected to play in the Mcdonald’s All-American Game and the Jordan brand classic, after which Camila would become the highest rated recruit in Syracuse history.

However, there was still another gear to her game, which only unlocked after a unique trip back home.

Number two: college highlights.

College Highlights

She would have to make another life-changing decision in college.

Camila started her career in Syracuse, but she wouldn’t end it there.

As a freshman, she averaged 13.6 points, eight rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game, becoming the first player in program history to win the Atlantic Coast Conference freshman of the Year award.

Following the season, Cardoo transferred to South Carolina.

When Cardoo transferred to South Carolina from Syracuse during the summer of 20121, the team coaches all quickly realized that Camila still had a ton of untapped potential in her game.

Immediately the staff began building her confidence.

They constantly told her how good she could be and how important she was to the team.

Turns can’t finish, cardo does.

She’s unstable and practices.

When she caught the ball, everyone often shouted shoot at Camila.

The attention sometimes startled her and she’d pass off the ball, shrugging her shoulders and sinking her head.

In an apology of sorts, Fred schme, South Carolina’s post coach, said that they wanted to make sure she understood in the moment that this is who she is and can be.

It was constant reminders every single day in practice.

When the off season came, Camila returned home to Brazil for the first time in years.

But something happened during that trip.

It was like she was recharged after seeing her family.

She came back to South Carolina more determined than ever.

Her confidence was also through the roof.

Camila looked to be the X Factor.

This turned out to be true, as she averaged 15 points, nine rebounds and three blocks a game, while helping her Squad make deep runs in the Ncaa tournaments.

She also took her talents back to Brazil, where she achieved her proudest moment.

Tank it.

It’s a goal.

International Success

Cardoso got it counted and the foul number one international success.

She is a Pioneer in Brazil.

She represented Brazil at the 2021 Fba women’s America Cup in Puerto Rico.

She averaged 9.9 points and eight rebounds per game, helping her team win the bronze medal.

However, the following year she won a gold medal and earned Mvp honors at the 2020- 2: 2 South American basketball championship in Argentina.

Then she led Brazil to a gold medal at the 2023 Fba women’s America Cup in Mexico, where she was named tournament Mvp and averaged 10.9 points and 8.3 rebounds per game.

She recorded 20 points and 11 rebounds and a 6958 win against the United States.

In the final talk about a sweet homecoming, she has always been a proud Brazilian, as per her Instagram, where she has nearly 160 th000 followers, her social media is full of messages to her fans back home, along with pictures of her wrapped up in the Brazilian flag, which is why she balls out every time she is representing her country, something that she had dreamt of doing since she was just a kid.