Getting the ball in Chloe Kitts' hands was key to South Carolina's return to the Final Four

New York Times

30-03-2025

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – When Dawn Staley drew up South Carolina's final offensive possession, the goal was simple: Get the ball to Chloe Kitts.
Kitts, the 6-foot-2 junior post, was South Carolina's best offensive weapon in the fourth quarter. She scored eight of her 14 points in that quarter, but for her final two, she didn't want the ball.
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After South Carolina left the huddle, Kitts turned to point guard Ta-hina Paopao and asked her, 'Can you get the ball? Can you get the ball?' Paopao was taken aback and denied Kitts' request.
'Girl, what? Go get the ball,' she told her.
Kitts got the ball and was fouled before walking to the free-throw line with her nerves at an all-time high. Kitts is a good free throw shooter, she made 5 of 8 to that point and is an 81 percent free-throw shooter this season. But in that moment, with the Gamecocks' Final Four aspirations hanging in the balance, she was scared.
She couldn't even look at her father, Jason Kitts, in the stands.
Around her, South Carolina's players were encouraging her. Bree Hall, who was standing at the line to rebound, was telling Kitts: 'You're unshakeable. You got this.' Sania Feagin told her to take a deep breath.
She listened to them and made both free throws. A few seconds later, top-seeded South Carolina defeated second-seeded Duke 54-50, clinching its fifth straight trip to the Final Four. But this one was different for Kitts.
Cut the net ✂️#MarchMadness x #WFinalFour pic.twitter.com/3pHHE8cFZQ
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessWBB) March 30, 2025
It was affirmation that Kitts, who had watched as elite post player after elite post player came into that program and won, was deserving of her role as one of South Carolina's leaders.
'It feels amazing because I feel like I worked so hard, and my process is different. … I'm just so thankful to be in that position at the end of the game to go to the Final Four,' Kitts said.
As South Carolina celebrated another Elite Eight win, the floor was chaotic. Some players danced together, while others took pictures with their families. Staley even went off to the side to sign a baby's bottom.
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Kitts, who was named MVP of the regional, found her mother and father first on the court amid the celebration. She hugged all of the team parents of her teammates, cut her piece of the net and then made her way to the stands.
Kitts hugged and took pictures with fans who had sat behind South Carolina's bench. She was even given a child to hold while she took a picture. It was a scene that resembled a presidential candidate greeting voters, and Kitts loved it.
From the moment she stepped onto campus as a freshman, she said she's felt the support of South Carolina's fan base. Celebrating with them, even after one of her biggest NCAA Tournament moments, was a no-brainer. 'The fans mean so much to me. Those little boys and little girls look up to us,' Kitts said.
It's more than just the fans who look up to Kitts, now, it's her team.
When Kitts skipped her high school senior season of basketball to enroll early at South Carolina, she knew that the transition to college wouldn't be easy. 'She probably thought it was the worst decision that she made when she was going through it,' Staley said.
In that time, though, she got a chance to learn from players like Aliyah Boston, Kamilla Cardoso and the rest of South Carolina's stacked teams that reached the Final Four.
The question was never about Kitts' talent. She had to learn the standard at South Carolina and grow into the college game. Once she did that, things started to click.
Last season she started in 31 of 37 games and was a key part of the national championship winning team, but this season, she's had to step into a larger leadership role.
With Cardoso graduated, she and Feagin became the two leading post players.
Kitts is averaging a career-high 10.3 points with the added minutes, but it's her calming presence that holds more weight. She knows how to ease people in big moments and keeps things loose behind the scenes.
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'What I really like about Chloe is, you know, whether she makes you laugh at something or she says something off the wall, it's her. She is comfortable in her skin,' Staley said.
On the court, while she might be screaming inside, she doesn't show it on the outside as her presence relaxes everybody else because of her consistency. She's scored in double figures in 23 of her 35 games and has also reached that mark in 10 of the last 11 games.
'For her to step up and do what she's been doing the last month, it's been great to see and play with because we know we will get that from her every night,' Paopao said.
The key to Kitts is her confidence, and her teammates see it growing every game.
'We had all the confidence in her, but we had to wait for her to feel that confidence in herself,' Paopao said. 'She's going to be that great leader we need for the next two games if we are going to handle business.'
South Carolina's coaching staff and players have the utmost trust in Kitts. That, she said, was the only thing going through her mind as she stepped to the line for her final free throws of the game.
'My coach wanted me to have the ball at the end of the game because she knew I could make my free throws,' Kitts said. 'I just told myself, 'I'm really good at basketball.''
(Photo of Chloe Kitts: Greg Fiume / NCAA Photos via Getty Images)