Dawn Staley goes through this same process every season. She has a dynamic team, who shares the ball and functions like a well-oiled machine. There’s usually one player that emerges as a National Player of the Year contender and while her team steamrolls towards a championship, her individual players are often outshined by bigger names, with bigger stats on other college teams.
South Carolina, led by Kamilla Cardoso won the 2024 NCAA Tournament, but Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark were the headliners. Staley got her props for capturing her third national championship to go along with five SEC regular season championships, seven SEC tournament titles, four Final Fours, seven Sweet 16 appearances.
But the championship was a team effort. With Cardoso off to the WNBA, the next unsung star of Staley’s Gamecocks team is forward Chloe Kitts, who is currently averaging 17 points and 10.3 rebounds per game, leading the team in both categories.
Chloe Kitts Popularity Growing
While SC has several players who have the talent to contend for All-America honors, Kitts is definitely the most popular player. She has over 215,000 social media followers. She signed with Excel Sports for NIL representation in 2022 and has since landed deals with Sephora, Marathon, Carolina Rise and Powerade, among others.
Kitts had 14 points and seven rebounds to lead No. 1 South Carolina to a 95-44 win over East Carolina on Sunday for the Gamecocks’ 42nd straight victory.
MiLaysia Fulwiley and highly-touted freshman Joyce Edwards added 12 points apiece as the Gamecocks (4-0) finished with five players in double figures on the way to their 61st consecutive home win. In addition to that, Staley flexed the depth of her squad by playing 12 players, who all scored for the Gamecocks.
Fulwiley has the highest NIL valuation of any female athlete in the state of South Carolina. The sophomore isn’t as popular as Kitts yet, but her NIL bag coming out of high school is bigger according to On3.com, although the amount is undisclosed. She’s also approaching 200K followers. Her time to shine and lead will come, but right now, it’s the junior from Florida who is seizing the moment
Dawn Staley Says Chloe Kitts Has A Target On Her Back
In the postgame news conference, Staley clearly has raised the level of expectations for Kitts, saying that the national champion “has to make some adjustments,” as the season progresses and the stakes grow.
Now that Kitts is emerging as the go-to player, “She’s got the target on her back as far as the scouting report,” Staley added. Staley noticed that teams are tightening up their defenses on Kitts and she’s not as effective when the pressure is on. That’s something the coach is monitoring.
It’s also a new dynamic for South Carolina, who in the past have been led by Black women, post players such as three-time WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson and Aliyah Boston, NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player (MOP) in 2022.
Kitts is white with a versatile, ever-evolving game. She’s not a post player, but the 6-2 forward, who definitely can stroke it, is also not a long-range threat in Staley’s offense. She’s only attempted five threes this season. She plays within Staley’s system and has defensive principles, but she makes shots at nearly a 60 percent clip and moves well without the ball.
Chloe Kitts Doesn’t Have Green Light But Can Light It Up
While Kitts may want to light it up, Staley noted that it wouldn’t be a bad thing for her to ease up on the offense a bit to throw off the opponents. She missed a couple of layups, which isn’t a big deal, but when you’re a Dawn Staley team that has won 61 straight at home in addition to the 42 game win streak, the coach and media will nitpick your performance.
“She probably needs to just kind of make them forget about it a little bit and then come back. Sometimes it does a defense good that you’re not going to be as aggressive as you’ve been.”
The Gamecocks are cruising at 4-0 with the toughest stretches of the season on the horizon. Kitts proved her value as a sophomore, contributing 11 points and 10 boards and great defensive effort in a convincing title game win over Caitlin Clark and Iowa.
“I am not worried about Chloe,” Staley assures.
The rest of the country should be though. Just a junior and an integral part of a history in the making dynasty program, the level of her greatness will be tested on the court and by her legendary coach.
The spotlight will only get brighter as she strives to crack the elite players of the game. As a member of Staley’s team, that will happen naturally, through winning. So, the favorite ballers; JuJu Watkins, Paige Beuckers, Flau’Jae Johnson and the other leading ladies of college basketball will have to make a spot for the walking double-double Chloe Kitts.
