South Carolina’s Gatorade POY becomes third female in history to win slam dunk contest
COLUMBIA, S.C. (BVM) – The No. 12-ranked prospect in the nation for the Class of 2022, Ashlyn Watkins was named South Carolina’s Gatorade Player of the Year right before she took home the McDonald’s All-American Slam Dunk title.
The 6-foot-3 senior has a five-year history of dominating the hardwood at Cardinal Newman High School and leads the school in scoring (1,740 points) and rebounds (1,341). A varsity player for the Cardinals since her eighth grade season, Watkins averaged 16 points and 12.3 rebounds through her prep career and led her team to five-straight SCISA Class 3A appearances and four titles. In her senior season, the forward averaged 20.5 points, 15.4 rebounds, 3.5 steals, and 2.9 blocks, solidifying her top-prospect rank.
After being named South Carolina’s Gatorade POY for her unmatched performances on the court and in the classroom, Watkins put her talents on display at the McDonald’s All-American Slam Dunk contest in Chicago on March 29 and was crowned the champion. Just the third woman in history to win the contest, she joins Candace Parker (2004) and Fran Belibi (2019) on the exclusive list. As a homage to Parker, Watkins sported the current Chicago Sky forward’s No. 3 jersey for an around-the-waist baseline dunk that sealed her spot in the final round. And with everything on the line, Watkin’s final dunk was a last-minute decision that paid off.
“I was prepping for the contest about every other day leading up to it,” Watkins said. “We came up with the first three dunks that I did in the contest pretty quickly. But the last dunk I did was just random. I had done it before but I wasn’t planning on doing that one – it just felt right in the moment.”
Watkins came into the national spotlight in 2015 after she dunked on a 9-foot basket as a fifth grader. This feat garnered her a new set of fans which included a plethora of college scouts. After two more dunks during the Jr. NBA World Championship in 2018, Watkins’ notoriety continued to grow right along with her talents and made her college recruitment process that much more intense.
“Towards the end of middle school, I really started to see basketball as my future,” Watkins said. “Everybody told me that I could take it to the next level and go far and I started to believe them. Then a few schools started to reach out and things got real.”
With multiple options on the table, Watkins said she looked at both athletics and academics when deciding where she wanted to go. With her top four programs in North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky and Mississippi State, the senior said her decision to commit to South Carolina just felt right.
“It was really between North and South Carolina in the end,” Watkins said, “I compared the programs and what each could do for me and South Carolina just had everything that I wanted. I didn’t want to go across the country for school and I wanted to stay closer to my roots. It was perfect.”
Though Watkins is best known for her on-court abilities, she has also maintained a 4.06 GPA and has spent time volunteering at schools in her community. As she prepares to become a Gamecock this fall, her focus is on keeping basketball front and center.
“I don’t know what I am going to study yet, but I have a little bit of time to decide,” Watkins said. “I do know that I want basketball in my future. Whether that’s the WNBA or maybe playing overseas – we’ll see.”
