‘I’m about to dunk this’: Even-keeled Ashlyn Watkins’ reacts to first college slam

It only took three college games for South Carolina freshman forward Ashlyn Watkins to make history.

Watkins went viral earlier this year for winning the McDonald’s All-American Dunk Contest as a senior in high school. And with the Gamecocks up big over Clemson on Thursday, she used the closing minutes of the 85-31 win to show off the unique talent at the college level.

Watkins deflected a pass at halfcourt and came away with a steal. She only took a few dribbles from the big, orange paw at the center of the court.

From there, she went up with her right hand and completed the flush, marking the first dunk in program history.

“I saw that nobody was in front of me,” Watkins said. “I just kept going and I was like, ‘Oh yeah, I’m about to dunk this.’ ”

The fans inside Littlejohn Coliseum erupted with applause and cheers. Watkins’ Gamecock teammates ran up to her on the next dead ball, jumping up and down to show their appreciation and amazement.

But Watkins — who is from Columbia and starred at Cardinal Newman — played off the highlight moment with her usual calm demeanor. In her mind, it’s nothing out of the ordinary.

“It’s something that I usually do,” Watkins said.

She had a few chances to dunk in USC’s exhibition and home opener during fast breaks — even prompting deep breaths from the crowd in Colonial Life Arena — but she simply laid the ball up and in.

Even South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley was expecting a layup from the play Thursday.

“She wasn’t really dribbling the ball up the floor smoothly,” Staley said. “I thought she was just going to put it over the rim and lay it up over the rim, and she turned it over. That’s pretty impressive, super impressive.”

Senior guard Zia Cooke said she’s never seen a woman dunk in a game live, describing herself as shocked to see it happen.

“Do you know what you just did?” the excited Cooke asked Watkins.

“Yeah,” Watkins responded.

Watkins finished the night with a career-high 14 points to go along with five rebounds. She also made her first career three-pointer just a few plays before the dunk.

South Carolina fans waited to see if the freshman star would have the chance to dunk the ball in her career at USC. It only took three regular season games for them to get their wish.

Now, they’ll wait to see it again.

“I’ve seen her do it a million times, but never on this level,” Staley said.