A women’s college basketball star was arrested on disturbing charges over the weekend.
Dawn Staley’s South Carolina women’s basketball program had a key contributor arrested on multiple disturbing charges heading into the 2024-25 year.
Ashlyn Watkins, a junior forward on Dawn Staley’s squad, was reportedly arrested following an incident that happened on Saturday morning. She’s now reportedly being charged with kidnapping and assault.
It doesn’t sound good.
From News 19 in South Carolina:
According to warrants filed by USC Police in the arrest of Ashlyn Watkins, the incident occurred at 650 Lincoln Street, a student housing center at the University of South Carolina. There, warrants state that Watkins assaulted the victim by “forcefully grabbing her face, pulling her by her arms, and pushing her.”
The warrant states that Watkins also picked up the victim against her will and carried her. It goes on to say that Watkins “grabbed the victim’s head and forced her to walk down the hall, thus controlling her movement while preventing her from leaving.” The latter allegation led to an additional charge of kidnapping.
The warrant states that the victim eventually got away and pulled a fire alarm, which led to the arrival of police and fire personnel. She was treated for injuries the warrant described as not life-threatening. Both warrants state officers read Watkins her rights, and she confessed — though the warrants don’t reveal what she said. They also state that the incident was captured on video surveillance cameras.
That does not sound good.
Watkins played a key role for South Carolina’s 2023-24 national championship team. But she will likely be facing punishment – and perhaps something more serious – heading into the 2024-25 season.
South Carolina is “aware of the situation and continue gathering more information.”
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