South Carolina women's basketball: Local Heroes MiLaysia Fulwiley and Ashlyn Watkins are the present and future

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If you want to slow down MiLaysia Fulwiley and Ashlyn Watkins, ask them how long they’ve known each other.

They played together on travel teams. Before high school. Maybe eighth grade? Middle school? Elementary school? 

They finally agree that Watkins was in sixth grade and Fulwiley was in fifth grade when they first met. It doesn’t sound like they are totally convinced that’s accurate, but it’s fair to say it’s been a long time.

About seven miles separate Cardinal Newman, where Watkins played, and WJ Keenan, where Fulwiley played. They were highly sought-after recruits who chose to stay home and play about 11 miles away at Colonial Life Arena. 

Now, Watkins, a sophomore, and Fulwiley, a freshman, are both the present and the future of South Carolina basketball.

“We worked really hard recruiting both of them,” Dawn Staley said. “All of our local talent, we want them to stay here so we forge relationships with them. We envision the two of them playing together, playing a lot of minutes together, playing their entire careers here.”

Keeping local talent home has long been the cornerstone of Staley’s program, from Aleighsa Welch to Alaina Coates to A’ja Wilson, and many others. Next season the Gamecocks will add another local start in Camden’s Joyce Edwards, currently the second-ranked prospect in her class.

Watkins (12) and Fulwiley (13) weren’t as highly rated by recruiting services, but Staley saw the cornerstones of South Carolina’s future. She described Fulwiley as a “generational talent” and Watkins might be the most athletic player in program history.

Each started her Gamecock career with a bang. Watkins won the McDonald’s All-America slam dunk contest and then needed just three games to throw down her first collegiate dunk. Fulwiley became a viral sensation following her behind-the-back, no-look, reverse layup in her debut this season.

The highlights haven’t gone away, but over the past couple of weeks, Watkins and Fulwiley have started to round out their play. For Watkins, that means being more assertive on offense. For Fulwiley, it’s the defensive end. 

“I feel like I’m actually looking to score now,” Watkins said. “I used to get it and just pass it. I feel like now I’m looking to score.”

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“I feel like I just took a little bit more pride in my defense,” Fulwiley said. “I just always wanted to get the ball and score and go straight to the rim and not defend. It’s two sides to basketball. You can’t score if you don’t defend. Once I picked up my defense and started playing up to my expectations and defending well it worked out good for me.”

The notion that they are just starting to figure things out is a scary prospect for opponents.

Watkins has notched consecutive double-doubles in the last two games as a fill-in starter for Chloe Kitts. Now that Kamilla Cardoso is out for the next two games to play for the Brazilian national team, Watkins could stay in the starting lineup as Cardoso’s fill-in.

“Ashlyn’s been coming,” Staley said. “I think Ashlyn can provide that no matter where she is in the lineup. She makes it really hard. We see her contributions and we see her elevated play with more minutes. It’s really encouraging.”

Watkins doesn’t care whether she starts or returns to her role off the bench. She said after the Ole Miss game that her approach stayed the same.

“I really wouldn’t say that there was an adjustment,” Watkins said. “I just played to my full potential and showed what I can do. I knew that my team needed me to get rebounds and stuff so I made an effort to play my best.”

On or off the court, Watkins is soft-spoken and reserved by nature. Fulwiley and Staley both talk about pushing Watkins to reach her full potential. Staley said they try to force Watkins to be great.

“We want her to score,” she said. “There’s no question that she rebounds the basketball, she defends like no other. I think the one element that’s missing in her game is consistently scoring. We are being very calculating in giving her the ball and seeing what she does with it. She’s got to familiarize herself with spots on the floor where she can be effective offensively.”

Fulwiley is fully aware of how good Watkins can be.

“I knew she was capable, so when Coach told her she was going to start I feel we all knew she was going to go out there and do what she does best,” Fulwiley said. “She’s brave. She’s not afraid of anything.”

Fulwiley and Watkins have strong chemistry on the court that comes from years of playing together. They always know where the other is, especially in transition, even if they aren’t always on the same page.

It happened against Ole Miss. Fulwiley attacked the rim, and at the last moment tried to drop off a pass to Watkins. Except Watkins was already boxing out for the rebound. Fulwiley wasn’t amused, but Staley was.

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“They’re doing a great job with feeling each other out,” Staley said. “I know Lay catches Ashlyn off guard a lot, to the point where Ashlyn should stay ready. I think they had a little argument out there on the floor, but that’s to be expected. Lay expects her to catch all of her passes and Ashlyn expects Lay to shoot them so she can get the rebound if she misses.”

That pass aside, are they ever surprised by what the other can do? That’s a matter of opinion

“Sometimes Lay surprises me because her bag is so deep,” Watkins said. “I’m pretty sure it surprises everybody. Sometimes she does it in practice (where) she brings out different things.”

Fulwiley said it was unexpected when Watkins started scoring more and creating for others, “But it’s not surprising.”

“She never surprises me. When she dunked, I knew she was going to dunk. When you watch the video I’m all the way at the end of the court knowing that she’s about to dunk,” Fulwiley said. “She can get a bucket any time.”

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