South Carolina’s girls’s basketball staff will head into this season with out one among its key gamers.
Ashlyn Watkins introduced on Instagram that she is “going to take a while off” and will likely be again for the 2026-27 season. Whereas Watkins didn’t play a lot final season — lacking time due to a suspension after which struggling a season-ending damage — she was a vital a part of the Gamecocks’ 2024 nationwide championship staff, averaging 9.2 factors, 7.4 rebounds and a pair of.4 blocks per recreation as a sophomore.
Watkins wrote in her social media publish on Friday: “As most of you recognize, this previous 12 months has been a curler coaster for me. I normally wish to hold my private life non-public, however each time I step out into the group, I notice I’m not alone on this journey. So a lot of you may have proven me love and encouragement, and due to that, I really feel like l owe you somewhat perception into what’s been happening… I’m so grateful for my coaches, the USC medical staff, my teammates, and everybody who’s supported me alongside the way in which. For now, I’ll be cheering on my staff and dealing laborious to come back again even stronger within the 2026-27 season.”
After a standout efficiency within the 2024 nationwide semifinals the place she had eight factors and 20 rebounds towards N.C. State, Watkins appeared poised for a much bigger function with the Gamecocks as a junior, particularly since Kamilla Cardoso had graduated and was off within the WNBA. However that promising outlook shortly turned tumultuous after she was arrested late final August and charged with assault and battery within the first diploma and kidnapping.
Watkins was suspended from the staff, however reinstated after finishing a pre-trial intervention program. The costs had been dropped in early November and Watkins missed only one recreation.
Her season appeared to be again on observe after that incident. The 6-foot-3 Watkins threw down a fast-break dunk for the Gamecocks in a win over TCU, exhibiting off a few of the athleticism that helped her rank fifth within the nation in blocked pictures as a sophomore. Watkins is the proprietor of the one two dunks within the historical past of South Carolina girls’s basketball.
Then on Jan. 5 towards Mississippi State, Watkins’ junior season ended when she tore her ACL. Whereas the Gamecocks made the nationwide championship recreation with out her, Watkins’ versatility and knack for rebounding and defending the rim had been missed at occasions. Earlier than her damage, Watkins averaged 7.2 factors, 6.2 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per recreation throughout 14 contests.
In a press release to the Greenville Information, South Carolina coach Daybreak Staley stated, “We are going to assist Ashlyn as she works by getting her physique and thoughts stronger; and we will likely be right here when she is able to return.”
From a pure basketball perspective, the excellent news for South Carolina is that they return Chloe Kitts and Joyce Edwards — each of whom garnered All-American honorable point out nods final season — within the entrance courtroom, and likewise added 6-foot-6 Madina Okot within the switch portal from Mississippi State. Okot almost averaged a double-double, 11.3 factors and 9.6 rebounds per recreation, final season in her first 12 months within the SEC.
Every time she returns to the courtroom, Watkins can have at the very least one 12 months of eligibility remaining.
