Dawn Staley States How Chloe Kitts Is Fulfulling South Carolina Expectations

South Carolina Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley spoke about what she's seeing from Chloe Kitts.

Mar 7, 2025; Greenville, SC, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks forward Chloe Kitts (21) shoots a free throw against the Vanderbilt Commodores during the second half at Bon Secours Wellness Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

The South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball team made a very clear case for them being the top seed in the NCAA Tournament after their dominant win over the Texas Longhorns in the SEC Conference Tournament championship game on March 9.

Junior forward Chloe Kitts shined in this final game, as she scored 15 points while also grabbing 9 rebounds in 30 minutes played. And afterward, Kitts was named SEC Tournament MVP as a result of her consistently excellent performances in the tournament.

During a Q&A article with WSLAM that was released on March 10, Kitts opened up about the pressure she feels playing for such a prestigious program like South Carolina, saying, "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.

"You just have to find a healthy balance and know that everything’s gonna be OK," she added.

Kitts has clearly found that balance. And during her March 11 appearance on the Carolina Calls show, Gamecocks head coach Dawn Staley spoke about the recent form she has seen of Kitts, crediting her tenacity and training regimen for the uptick in production.

"She's a dawg playing this game," Staley said of Kitts, according to an X post from The State's Michael Sauls.

She later added, "This is the Chloe we projected when we started recruiting her."

Dawn Staley on Chloe Kitts: "She's a dawg playing this game"

Said Kitts has done a good job working with Molly Binetti to keep on weight/muscle this year (said she's lost in during the szn in prev yrs)

"This is the Chloe we projected when we started recruiting her."

— Michael Sauls (@mcsauls) March 11, 2025

Kitts is one of three players on South Carolina's current roster that didn't play in a McDonald's All-American game. However, this isn't because she wasn't a highly-touted recruit (she was ESPN's No. 17 ranked player in her class).

Instead, Kitts graduated high school early, which made her ineligible for the McDonald's All-American game.

Now the Gamecocks are hoping Kitts can use this "dawg" mentality to help produce another National Championship trophy.