Dawn Staley addresses Ashlyn Watkins’ status with USC WBB following arrest, suspension

South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley addressed Ashlyn Watkins’ status on Tuesday, the day after USC’s first official practice.

“The status is still the same,” Staley said. “Nothing has moved yet. We’re not going to move until the situation changes.”

Per athletic department policy, Watkins’ arrest triggered an automatic team suspension. USC acknowledged through a spokesperson for the women’s basketball team on Aug. 31 that they were aware of the situation and gathering information. South Carolina athletics confirmed Sept. 5 that Watkins’ suspension from team activities was still in place. Staley reaffirmed Watkins’ suspension Tuesday.

Watkins, a key contributor to the Gamecocks’ undefeated 2023-24 season, was arrested Aug. 31 and charged with first-degree assault and kidnapping after an incident at 650 Lincoln St., a USC housing and retail center, according to arrest warrants.

Watkins, a junior, is a 6-foot-3 forward and the Gamecocks’ most highly rated defensive player. She attended Cardinal Newman for high school, where she won the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year Award in 2022. Watkins also won the McDonald’s All-American dunk contest that year.

Following her arrest, Watkins was granted a $30,000 personal recognizance bond on the condition that she has no contact with the victim and stays 1,000 yards away from the victim’s home, work, school and place of worship, according to online court records. Another listed condition is “permission to travel out of state for games and practice.”

Online court records say an initial court appearance for Watkins has been set for Oct. 25, 10 days before USC’s 2024-25 season opener against Michigan in Las Vegas on Nov. 4. South Carolina will also play two exhibitions in October: at Memphis on Oct. 15 and versus Clayton State on Oct. 28.

Tuesday marked the first time Staley spoke to local media since Aug. 27, when the Gamecocks and South Carolina Department of Transportation unveiled new highway signs honoring USC’s 2024 national championship.

She was not made available for questions with local reporters who traveled to the White House when President Joe Biden hosted the team in celebration of its newest NCAA title. Neither Watkins nor senior Sania Feagin made the trip to Washington, D.C., as the latter was with the 3x3 U23 national team for the World Cup in Mongolia (Feagin went on to win tournament MVP and lead Team USA to gold).

About Watkins’ arrest

Warrants said Watkins assaulted the victim by “forcefully grabbing her face, pulling her by her arms, and pushing her.” She also allegedly picked the victim up against her will and carried her away, grabbed her head and forced her to walk down the hall and prevented her from leaving.

The warrant also said the victim eventually got away from Watkins and pulled the fire alarm. Police and fire personnel responded and treated the victim for her injuries, which were not life-threatening.

According to a police incident report released Sept. 3, the victim initially told police several times that Watkins hit her — but later said Watkins did not hit her.

On Sept. 1, Watkins’ lawyer Todd Rutherford told WLTX that “we believe once everybody has a full grasp of what happened, this will end up being a misunderstanding. What we know for certain is that Ashlyn did not assault anyone and she did not kidnap anyone.”