Top-ranked Gamecocks softball recruit joining program ahead of schedule
.JPG "Gray Collegiate’s Aspen Boulware during the state championship softball game against York on Tuesday, May 27, 2025.")
Aspen Boulware will be getting a jump on her college career.
The Gray Collegiate softball standout and top-ranked player in Class of 2027 plans to skip her senior season and enroll at South Carolina in the fall of 2026. Boulware confirmed the news to The State on Sunday morning.
This speeds up Boulware’s college timeline and means that she will play her first season of Gamecocks softball in spring 2027, as opposed to in spring 2028.
“I was already super excited to go to USC, now I just get to go a year sooner,” Boulware told The State. “I’m looking forward to being with a lot of past teammates I’ve played with when I was younger and play with their players there already.”
Boulware, a high school junior, committed to the Gamecocks program in early October and hinted that reclassifying was a possibility. She is the latest area athlete to make that decision.
Lexington High’s Karley Shelton skipped her senior softball season in 2024 and enrolled with the Gamecocks. Shelton played in 50 games during her college freshman season. On the football side, Irmo’s Donovan Murph and Ridge View’s Jordon Gidron did the same thing and are freshmen on the Gamecocks football team this year.
“The decision was easy because of the way Gray is structured. Academically, my school puts me ahead with more than enough credits to graduate early,” Boulware said. “Athletically, I truly believe in Coach Ash and the staff at USC to have me ready to play.”
Boulware is one of the biggest commitments for second-year USC coach Ashley Chastain Woodard. The Gamecocks went 42-15 in Chastain Woodard’s first season last year and hosted an NCAA Tournament regional and super regional.
After her decision to reclassify, Boulware is ranked No. 7 for the Class of 2026. She is the highest-ranked Gamecocks commit for the class, which has eight commitments.
Boulware is coming off her best season in which she helped Gray Collegiate to a state championship and was named the state of South Carolina’s 2025 Gatorade Player of the Year.
This season, Boulware hit .573 with 22 home runs, 44 RBIs, eight triples, 26 stolen bases and 67 runs scored in helping the War Eagles to a school-record 32 wins and the Class 4A state championship. It was Gray’s third state title in four seasons but first in Class 4A.
In nine playoff games, Boulware was 11 for 20 with six home runs and eight RBIs. Two of the home runs came in the state championship series against York. Boulware’s 22 home runs broke her own school record of 19 set in 2024.
She’ll play one final season this spring at Gray Collegiate and then make the transition to college.
Boulware has been a starter on varsity since the seventh grade and has 52 homers and 126 RBIs during that span.
This story was originally published October 26, 2025 at 9:03 AM.
