An unfortunate diagnosis sidelined Chloe Kitts before the season began. Kitts tore her ACL during the offseason and was ruled out for the 2025-26 season. However, Dawn Staley maintained that she would play a vital role from the bench. “I know that her competitive fire and tenacity will be felt from the sidelines as she pours what she can into them to ensure our team’s success,” she said in the release. Now, as we head into the crux of the season, Staley explained her importance and role in the team’s success.

“Chloe is constantly talking to them, and she’s speaking from a player’s perspective, someone that’s been out there, like things that we’re not doing,” Staley told the media after following Wednesday’s practice. As a player, sitting on the sidelines while injured is probably the worst feeling. Athletes have a lot of energy that is being unspent. Like Chloe, most analyse the game and offer insights to their teammates, and she has a unique perspective. 

Kitts has been a starter for the last two seasons with the Gamecocks, guiding the team to consecutive national title game appearances, including the 2024 National Championship. She put up career-best scoring and rebounding numbers last season with 10.2 points and 7.7  rebounds to earn honorable mention All-America honors. 

She was ninth in the SEC in rebound and eighth in offensive boards at 2.82 per game. Kitts rose to the occasion in the postseason, earning MVP honors at both the SEC Tournament and the NCAA Birmingham 2 Regional. Her experience in this system, while looking from a third-person perspective, makes her guidance worth its weight in gold. Staley even gave an example of her advice, immediately flipping a game for Ta’Niya Latson. 

“I think I saw Ta’Niya in a postgame interview say Chloe asked her What’s wrong with her? It’s things like that, and if a coach says it, it’s probably taken a little bit differently than a peer.” Staley explained. 

Ta’Niya Latson was 2/8 at the half against NC Central, scoring just 6 points while shooting 0-1 from the 3-point line. She was uncharacteristically inaccurate against a team she should run riot against. Something changed at halftime, and she came out as a different player. She scored 26 points on 9-10 FG while being perfect 5-5 from the three-point line. 

At halftime, it was Chloe Kitts who took Latson to task and motivated her for the second half. “Chloe came up to me, and she was like, “What’s going on?” So I’m like, “Nah, I can’t go out like that. I gotta tighten up.” Latson said after the game. This was just one example that can internally raise the bar. 

“Chloe’s saying the things that she should be saying as a teammate and being around our players and seeing what’s not taking place, what’s missing, what needs to be added to what we’re doing.” Staley further said. “She’s a competitor. Like Chloe wants to win whether she’s participating or not. And that’s always a great quality to have on your bench around your team.”

Kitts has effectively become the mentor of the team. For players like Latson, who have transferred in and are new to the team, the culture and the system, her role is even more important. While Kitts guides the team from the bench, there have been multiple players joining her. Dawn Staley gave a positive update regarding Madina Okot and Agot Makeer ahead of their South Florida trip. 

Dawn Staley Sees Silver Lining As Madina Okot Nears Return

With Chloe Kitts and Ashlyn Watkins out, Dawn Staley is already dealing with a tight 10-player rotation. The situation got even worse when Tessa Johnson sat out the NC Central game with illness. She returned against Penn State, but Madina Okot and Agot Makeer remained out. Okot walked out of the NC Central game suffering from illness, while Makeer is navigating concussion protocol. 

After the Penn State game, Staley said both players were “day to day” and that South Carolina is being “super conservative” about putting them back in the lineup. “Yeah, they practiced today, so that’s good,” Staley said when asked if Okot and Makeer would be good to go for the trip on Wednesday. “…Still, you got to see how they do tomorrow. How they wake up tomorrow?”

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Okot and Makeer returning will further boost this 10-1 squad that risks even more injuries playing above-average minutes. Okot has averaged 14.8 points while leading the Southeastern Conference with 11.1 rebounds per game. Makeer has come off the bench, averaging 5.9 points and 3.9 rebounds. Nevertheless, Staley maintained that their absence had a positive impact on the team. 

“She was out, which you know, which allows some of our younger players or inexperienced players to get playing time,” Staley said. “I do think we’re a better team because Gotti was out and Madina was out. I think we’re just better.” South Carolina has shown some weakness in that loss against Texas and needs to tighten their play across the board. They have dropped to No.3 in the ap Poll. That means getting every player performing their role at their best.