Dawn Staley Asserts Chloe Kitts Has More Than Earned Her South Carolina Success
Dawn Staley's South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball team had to play their November 10 game against NC State without star player Chloe Kitts due to what was deemed an "academic policy issue".
Kitts ended up returning to the court one game later (and was subject to dad jokes as a result) and didn't waste any time returning to the elite form Gamecocks fans have come to expect from her.
Kitts has been one of South Carolina's best players thus far in 2024-25. After the No. 3 ranked Gamecocks' 81-70 win over the No. 8 ranked Duke Blue Devils on December 5 (where Kitts scored 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds), Staley got honest about the growth and dedication she's seen from Kitts this season.
"Chloe wants it bad, you know. Sometimes it works for her, and sometimes against her. Today it worked," Staley said postgame, per Matt Dowell.
"Basically yesterday... she's telling me I don't believe in her. Like, where did you get that from? Part of it is, you can look at the minutes, and her minutes decreased over Thanksgiving... She did take some bad shots over Thanksgiving, and I took her out because of it.
"She didn't take bad shots [tonight]," Staley added of Kitts. "And because of that, she gets this kind of performance. When she gets bad shots, it kind of lends itself to us not being able to right the track... my expectation is for her to take better shots, so she can set the example.
Staley added, "I'm happy because Chloe pours into herself. She does all the right things in regards to prepping herself... making lifestyle changes, in order for her to play this way. She wants to be a pro, so she's active in doing things and creating habits that will help her. So I want basketball to repay her for that every time she steps on the floor, because there's so many [players] that just come to practice, and that's it.
"She does all the extra, so I want basketball to repay her in this way a lot more times than it has," Staley concluded.
Asked Dawn Staley about the improvement of Chloe Kitts and the process to becoming a big-time player.
— Matt Dowell (@MattDowellTV) December 6, 2024
Staley really lets us inside all the highs and lows, the demands and desires to be an elite player.
The full answer is really worth the listen.@GamecockWBB | @wachfox pic.twitter.com/XmqqWdb6uQ
That is high praise from a basketball coach who has led a lot of great players and hard workers.
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.