Dawn Staley has announced that Ashlyn Watkins will remain suspended while her legal matters are resolved.
The South Carolina Gamecocks women’s basketball team will attempt to defend its national title, but head coach Dawn Staley confirmed that, for now, they’ll be doing so without forward Ashlyn Watkins.
Watkins was charged in connection with an unusual incident that reportedly took place on the school’s campus in late August. According to warrants filed by USC Police and reported by News 19 WLTX, Watkins allegedly assaulted a female victim by “forcefully grabbing her face, pulling her by her arms, and pushing her.”
As a result, the junior faces charges of first-degree assault and battery, as well as kidnapping. The kidnapping charge arises from claims that Watkins “grabbed the victim’s head and forced her to walk down the hall, thus controlling her movement and preventing her from leaving.”
The question remains: Will she be in the lineup while her legal case is resolved?
“Nothing has changed yet,” Staley said Tuesday, according to the Associated Press. “We’re not going to make any decisions until her situation is resolved a bit. It’s out of her control and out of our control.”
Watkins has not been with the team since the incident occurred and did not make the trip to the White House a couple of weeks back.
Staley did provide something of an update when asked how Watkins was doing while suspended from the team.
“Yeah, she’s great,” she said.
Watkins — a Columbia, South Carolina native — averaged 9.2 points and 7.4 rebounds per game last season.
Before the incident, it was believed that Wakins would slot into the lineup to replace Kamilla Cardoso, who now plays in the WNBA for the Chicago Sky.
The Gamecocks title defense campaign will get underway on Nov. 4 when they host the Michigan Wolverines.
