Chloe Kitts injury: South Carolina basketball star to miss season
South Carolina women’s basketball will be without one of its top players this season.
Forward Chloe Kitts will miss the 2025-26 season after tearing the ACL in her right knee, the school announced Monday morning. Surgery is planned for this week, the school said.
Kitts was spotted in a brace last week at a USC volleyball match. It wasn’t immediately known when the injury occurred.
She was scheduled to speak at the SEC Tipoff media day event this week in Birmingham with other USC players and coach Dawn Staley. But the school announced that Tessa Johnson will be going in her place.
“While this is not how I hoped my senior season would go, I’m trusting God’s timing and purpose,” Kitts said in a social media post Monday morning. “I’ll continue to lead, support and push my team from the sidelines. We have big things ahead.”
Kitts is the second USC player to be sidelined for the season. Ashlyn Watkins will be away from the team this year as she recovers from an injury suffered last season.
The Gamecocks will have Joyce Edwards, Madina Okot, Maryam Dauda and Adhel Tac available at the forward position.
“We hate this first for Chloe, who has worked incredibly hard to become the best version of herself on the court this season,” Staley said in a news release. “Her teammates are capable of stepping up, and 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.”
Kitts has been a starter for the last two seasons with the Gamecocks, helping the team to back-to-back national title game appearances. She posted career scoring and rebounding highs last season — 10.2 ppg and 7.7 rpg
Kitts was especially dominant in the postseason, earning MVP honors at both the SEC Tournament and the NCAA Tournament Birmingham 2 Regional.
The 6-2 forward is expected to take an injury redshirt during her 2025-26 senior season and will have one remaining year of eligibility for 2026-27. At that point, she could return to the court for the Gamecocks as a fifth-year senior.
USC ranked No. 2 in ESPN’s preseason top 25 poll and opens the season at home on Monday, Nov. 3 vs. former assistant Winston Gandy and Grand Canyon.
This story was originally published October 13, 2025 at 7:48 AM.
