South Carolina WBB star Ashlyn Watkins arrested on kidnapping, other charges

On Saturday, South Carolina women’s basketball star Ashlyn Watkins was arrested on numerous charges regarding a recent incident at a student housing residence.

WTLX 19, a CBS affiliate in Columbia, South Carolina, retrieved information on the arrest via a warrant filed by USC Police , which detailed that Watkins allegedly assaulted the victim by “forcefully grabbing her face, pulling her by her arms, and pushing her.”

Watkins then allegedly picked up the victim and carried her against her will, later grabbing her head and forcing her to walk down the hall, preventing her from leaving throughout the entire interaction. The victim detailed how she only escaped from Watkins after pulling the fire alarm in the building, which prompted law enforcement to arrive.

The Gamecocks junior was ultimately charged with kidnapping and first-degree assault and battery.

Obviously, the severity of this charge means that Watkins’ future with the South Carolina women’s basketball team should be secondary to justice being served in this case.

But as far as how this does impact South Carolina’s 2024-25 season, this could seemingly be a huge blow to a team looking to build on their undefeated season that was capped off by a National Championship victory last year over Iowa and Caitlin Clark.

Mitchell Northam of FTW reported “The court did grant Watkins – a 6-foot-3 junior who played a key role on the Gamecocks’ undefeated national championship-winning team this past winter – permission to travel out of state for games and practice.”

Watkins played a large role on last year’s team, averaging 9.2 points per game to go along with 7.4 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game. Her role was actually projected to be even bigger on this year’s team after the departure of Kamilla Cardoso to the WNBA.

Thus far, the University of South Carolina has yet to offer much of a comment on the matter, telling ESPN only that they are “aware of the situation and are continuing to gather information .”

[ WTLX 19 , ESPN , FTW.USAToday.com]

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