South Carolina women’s basketball player Ashlyn Watkins’ suspension has been lifted after she was arrested for an alleged assault Saturday morning, WIS-TV reported Wednesday night, citing “trusted sources.”
Watkins was charged with first-degree assault and kidnapping after an incident at 650 Lincoln St. (a USC housing and retail center), according to arrest warrants released Saturday. Per athletic department policy, Watkins’ arrest triggered an automatic suspension.
USC has not publicly commented on the incident, only acknowledging through a spokesperson for the women’s basketball team that they were aware of the situation and were gathering information.
Watkins’ father, Vancito Watkins, made a Facebook post Wednesday night saying “USC suspension lifted yall,” with two “100” emojis and two praying hands emojis. Vancito’s post has since been deleted, and he did not respond to a Facebook message asking for clarification regarding the post.
Watkins’ attorney, state Rep. Todd Rutherford, D-Richland, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
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 Tuesday, the incident began with an argument between Watkins and the victim.
A USC police officer responded to Lincoln Street just before 3 a.m. Saturday for a fire alarm and saw a group of individuals running towards the parking garage. The officer also heard “someone screaming for help,” according to the report. The officer saw a person leaning over the ledge on the third level of the garage yelling for help, and another person holding her back.
The victim was “visibly upset,” according to the report. She told police she had gotten into an argument with Watkins, 20, and was “attempting to get away from her.”
The victim said she had driven to 650 Lincoln to see her “best friend” and pointed to Watkins. Later the victim was on the second floor helping a sick friend, she told police.
Watkins returned and confronted her because she believed the victim was “cheating on her,” the victim told police.
While the victim initially told police several times that Watkins hit her, she later said that Watkins did not hit her, according to the report.
Watkins told police she went looking for the victim — whom she described to police as her “girlfriend” — on the second floor to take her to her car on the fourth floor.
According to the police report, Watkins admitted to “grabbing her” and walking outside. The two then returned to Watkins’ room to let out her dog. While letting out her dog, Watkins said the victim began to run through the parking garage and lifted herself up onto the ledge. Watkins told police she “wrapped both arms around” the victim because she believed she was going to jump off.
EMS and police spoke to all parties and determined the victim was not suicidal, according to the police report.
Police tried to call the parents of the victim, who was described in the report as “a juvenile,” but were unsuccessful. A Lexington County Sheriff’s deputy was sent to their residence and reached her mother.
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.”
“We believe once everybody has a full grasp of what happened, this will end up being a misunderstanding,” Watkins’ attorney, state Rep. Todd Rutherford, D-Richland, told WLTX on Saturday. “What we know for certain is that Ashlyn did not assault anyone, and she did not kidnap anyone.”
The State has been unable to reach Rutherford.
Watkins was a member of South Carolina’s 2024 national championship team. She is a 6-foot-3 forward and the Gamecocks’ most highly rated defensive player. Watkins attended Cardinal Newman for high school, where she won the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year Award in 2022. She also won the McDonald’s All-American dunk contest that year.