Chloe Kitts has spent a year chasing a goal she couldn’t achieve on the basketball court. Her entire 2025-26 season was taken away by an ACL injury, but it did little to dampen her ambition to make the WNBA. Now, as the South Carolina forward prepares to return for her final season, Dawn Staley believes the work Kitts has put in reflects one of her biggest accomplishments as a coach.

“Chloe’s been very consistent with working hard,” Staley told reporters during South Carolina’s 2026-27 season preview conference.

“She’s almost obsessive with it, to where you just have to, ‘Hey, take a day off… It’s helpful.’ Just her maturation, off the floor. She is someone that, if I had to think about where she came in, to where she is now, it’s probably some of my best work… I think Chloe just wants it, she wants it now. She wants to be in the WNBA now because she put the work in. And when you put the type of work that she puts in, the expectation is to be there.”

That discipline has become an important part of Kitts’ development over the last four years, especially considering her last season had to be focused on rehab instead of competition. The forward tore her ACL during a practice in October 2025, forcing her to sit out the entire collegiate season and ruining her momentum after a productive junior year with the Gamecocks.

“Thank you to everyone who has reached out with love and support,” she wrote on Instagram following the injury.

“While this isn’t how I hoped my senior season would go, I’m trusting God’s timing and purpose. I’ll continue to lead, support, and push my team from the sidelines. We have big things ahead!”

Before the injury, Kitts had established herself as a key piece in the South Carolina front court. She averaged 10.2 points and 7.7 rebounds in her junior year while shooting 52% from the field, starting all 38 games and earning MVP honors in the SEC Tournament and the NCAA regional, showing just how valuable she can be when postseason play comes around.

She was also key to the program’s national championship run in 2024, including a 21-point performance off the bench in the first round of the NCAA Tournament against #16 Presbyterian, where she didn’t miss a single shot.

Compare that production to her freshman season. She played just 6.9 minutes per game and logged under two points and rebounds per night.

For Kitts, an additional year of eligibility has created an opportunity for her to pursue her professional ambitions. With Staley highlighting how important it is for Kitts to make the WNBA, the forward now needs to show that the preparation she undertook over the last year can translate on the court to show that she is ready for the professional level.

Chloe Kitts’ Growth Goes Beyond the Basketball Court For Dawn Staley

Staley’s pride in Kitts extends past her player development, with the South Carolina head coach also pointing to her growth when it comes to relationships with her teammates. She also highlighted how, as one of the most senior players on the squad, Kitts has to set an example.

“Chloe is allowing her teammates to enter into her space of she goes bowling by herself, she goes to the movies by herself… Pilates, boxing. She does all these things,” Staley said.

“Now she’s sharing that space with her teammates. She’s bringing her teammates along. I’m super proud to know that we lose basically the core group of Raven (Johnson) and the players that came before Raven, and we know that those players left that legacy to Chloe and Tessa [Johnson], and they’re doing a great job.”

South Carolina has lost the national championship both years since winning it in 2024, and they come into this season with high expectations. Media members picked South Carolina to take the SEC regular-season title.

With Kitts joining the team for one final year, the Gamecocks now have a chance to change their national tournament shortcomings and turn Staley’s confidence in her development into the kind of on-court performance that could guarantee her name is called in the 2027 WNBA draft.