Women's Fastbreak On SI

Chloe Kitts Shares Honest Response About Pressure of Playing for South Carolina

South Carolina Gamecocks standout Chloe Kitts offered a thoughtful answer about the pressure of playing for such a great program.
Grant Young|
Mar 31, 2024; Albany, NY, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks forward Chloe Kitts (21) reacts to a play against the Oregon State Beavers during the second half in the finals of the Albany Regional of the 2024 NCAA Tournament at MVP Arena. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images
Mar 31, 2024; Albany, NY, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks forward Chloe Kitts (21) reacts to a play against the Oregon State Beavers during the second half in the finals of the Albany Regional of the 2024 NCAA Tournament at MVP Arena. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images | Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

The two NCAA National Championships the South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball team has produced in the past three seasons put the entire program under a microscope.

According to head coach Dawn Staley, this has prompted what she calls "South Carolina fatigue", which is essentially her way of saying that the women's college basketball community is sick of seeing her team win.

Regardless of whether this is true, there's no question that the Gamecocks are under a lot of pressure to perform. And junior forward Chloe Kitts got honest about how she deals with this pressure during a March 10 Q&A article with WSLAM.

"You have to realize that you go through highs and lows. Everyone goes through highs and lows. You might have a good stretch of games, you might have a horrible stretch of games," Kitts said when asked how she keeps her composure throughout a pressure-packed season.

"You just have to find a healthy balance and know that everything’s gonna be OK. That’s for me, especially because you can’t get too high with the highs [and] too low with the lows. Just try your hardest to stay consistent," she added.

When posed this same question about pressure, Gamecocks sophomore MiLaysia Fulwiley said, "I agree. When you’re playing basketball, it’s a mental thing, and if your mental is not there, then your game, your play, isn’t going to be there. I feel like it’s very important for all of us to keep our mental together.

"Just always remember that the main goal is winning a national championship, and you win some, you lose some, but we just all need to be locked in on that one goal. And I feel like that’s what keeps us together and keeps us able to get through the pressure."

Given their abundance of basketball talent, the Gamecocks' roster having unrelenting mental strength would make them nearly impossible to beat.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.

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