Daybreak Staley’s Gamecocks will probably be missing the identical type of depth they’ve loved within the frontcourt lately when the 2025-26 season begins.
Not solely will Ashlyn Watkins not play this season for South Carolina, however senior ahead Chloe Kitts introduced Monday morning that she would miss your complete upcoming season after tearing her ACL. The information comes a few week after Kitts was noticed at a South Carolina volleyball sport on crutches and with a brace on her proper knee.
“I just lately suffered an ACL tear and, sadly, will probably be out for this season,” Kitts wrote in a social media publish. “Whereas this isn’t how I hoped my senior season would go, I’m trusting God’s timing and function. I’ll proceed to guide, assist and push my workforce from the sidelines.”
In an announcement revealed by South Carolina athletics, Staley added: “We hate this primary for Chloe, who has labored extremely laborious to change into the most effective model of herself on the courtroom this season. Her teammates are able to stepping up, and I do know that her aggressive fireplace and tenacity will probably be felt from the sidelines as she pours what she will into them to make sure our workforce’s success.”
Kitts is coming off a season the place she averaged career-bests in scoring and rebounding with 10.2 factors and seven.7 rebounds per sport. The 6-foot-2 senior from Oviedo, Florida additionally posted a career-high 1.7 assists per sport final yr, the place the Gamecocks appeared within the nationwide title sport for the second straight season.
A starter for Staley for the previous two seasons, Kitts was instrumental within the Gamecocks’ postseason success. In a seven-game stretch starting with the SEC Event quarterfinals and going by means of the Elite Eight, Kitts averaged 14.2 factors, 7.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists and a block per sport. She was named MVP of the SEC Event and the Birmingham 2 Regional.
Kitts was on monitor to be a first-round decide within the WNBA Draft this spring. This school marketing campaign would’ve been her remaining season of eligibility and it’s unclear if she’ll search a medical redshirt to play subsequent season. She’ll have surgical procedure this week.
With Kitts and Watkins sidelined for the season, South Carolina will doubtless should lean on sophomore Joyce Edwards on the energy ahead place. The 6-foot-3 Edwards is coming off a robust freshman season the place she was — alongside Kitts — named as an honorable point out All-American by the AP. Edwards additionally earned a First Staff All-SEC nod and was named to the All-Event Staff on the Remaining 4.
Edwards additionally spent the summer time with Staff USA, enjoying for the senior nationwide workforce on the AmeriCup and with the 3×3 squad on the FIBA Nations League.
Whereas Staley’s South Carolina groups have sometimes been ones that emphasize bodily play and pounding the ball inside, the energy for this group of Gamecocks is perhaps in its backcourt which now options the veteran Raven Johnson, the nation’s main scorer in Ta’Niya Latson, and sharpshooting junior Tessa Johnson.