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Dawn Staley confident in Gamecocks despite injury to Chloe Kitts

AP photo by David Yeazell / South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley speaks with forward Chloe Kitts during an SEC tournament quarterfinal game against Vanderbilt on March 7 in Greenville, S.C.
AP photo by David Yeazell / South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley speaks with forward Chloe Kitts during an SEC tournament quarterfinal game against Vanderbilt on March 7 in Greenville, S.C. AP photo by David Yeazell / South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley speaks with forward Chloe Kitts during an SEC tournament quarterfinal game against Vanderbilt on March 7 in Greenville, S.C.

By MAURA CAREY / The Associated Press 3 min read

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The day after South Carolina forward Chloe Kitts announced her season-ending ACL tear on social media, coach Dawn Staley took the podium at the Southeastern Conference’s basketball media days event and said her plan was simple.

It will be business as usual for the Gamecocks, the reigning SEC champions who are No. 2 in the preseason AP Top 25 poll.

Staley traveled to Birmingham with sophomore forward Joyce Edwards, senior guard Ta’Niya Latson and Kitts’ media days replacement, junior guard Tessa Johnson. Their job this season?

“I just really need them to be themselves. Chloe is irreplaceable for what she brings so tangibly and intangibly,” Staley said Tuesday. “All the players on our roster, with the exception of our two transfers and our freshman, they know what it’s about.”

With or without Kitts, the Gamecocks were already facing significant turnover this year. Six letter-winners departed in the offseason, three of them starters who were selected in the 2025 WNBA draft.