Gamecocks one of the finalists for top girls basketball prospect Ashlyn Watkins
South Carolina is one of the final four schools for one of the state’s top girls basketball prospects for the Class of 2022.
Cardinal Newman forward Ashlyn Watkins announced on her Instagram page Tuesday that South Carolina was one of her final four choices. The others are North Carolina, Mississippi State and Kentucky. According to her mother, Ashlyn will take her official visits in September and October and announce her choice in November.
Ashlyn Watkins told The State after a playoff game last year that she wanted to announce her college choice by the time her senior season starts in November.
“I’m looking for a school that is going to help me outside of basketball and with basketball and go somewhere in life,” Watkins said after the playoff win over Porter-Gaud on Feb. 23.
The Gamecocks offered Watkins early on in the recruiting process and USC coach Dawn Staley has been courtside to see many of her games during her career. ESPN’s HoopGurlz rankings rates the 6-foot-3 senior as a five-star prospect and 12th overall for the Class of 2022.
As a junior, Watkins averaged 16.2 points, 11.7 rebounds, 2.8 steals and 2.7 blocks in helping Cardinal Newman to its third straight SCISA Class 3A championship. In the title game against Northwood, Watkins scored 23 points, had 18 rebounds and blocked five shots.
Watkins has scored more than 1,400 points in her career and shoots 62 percent from the field. She also was on the Cardinals’ state championship volleyball team last year.
Watkins has been a high-profile recruit and featured on ESPN after throwing down a few dunks early in her career, including one as a 14-year-old in a Junior NBA summer event. She also had a dunk during Cardinal Newman’s playoff run in 2020.
Watkins is part of a talented young group of prospects coming up in the Midlands and around the state. That list includes includes East Clarendon senior Talysia Cooper, Keenan junior Milaysia Fulwiley, Wren junior Riley Stack and Camden sophomore Joyce Edwards. Cooper is ranked No. 18 nationally for Class of 2022 while Fulwiley is No. 2 for Class of 2023 and Edwards No. 1 for Class of 2024.
South Carolina has yet to have a recruit publicly announce a commitment for the Gamecocks for the Class of 2022, although Staley had hinted about one a while back. The Gamecocks had the No. 1 recruiting class in the country in 2021.
This story was originally published August 24, 2021 at 4:56 PM.
