“I have 0 respect for this”: South Carolina hoops fans react to Gamecocks bringing Ashlyn Watkins back on squad post-arrest 

The South Carolina Gamecocks' Ashlyn Watkins was arrested in August and was suspended from Dawn Staley's team. However, the assault and battery charges against her were dropped on Nov. 1.

With that, the University of South Carolina has reinstated Watkins, who is now cleared to practice with the team. For the last few weeks, Watkins was only allowed to attend classes at the school and also missed out on her White House visit on Sep. 10.

As much as the Gamecocks will be happy to have their star back, fans posed contrasting emotions in the comment section:

"Why? How are we allowing this?" a fan wrote.

"As much as I love dawn Staley I have 0 respect for this," another fan commented.

"Dawn Staley saw how that squad would look without Ashlyn Watkins this year and made the call. #ncaawbb," another fan wrote.

Moreover, more fans followed suit in reacting to the Gamecocks' move amid the incident involving Watkins:

"Hopefully she has done some anger management therapy so she does not get in trouble again.," a fan commented.

"Great! We need more bruisers in the W. 🙄," another fan wrote.

"So ashlyn watkins only completed a program for first time offenders and south carolina fans are celebrating as if she was innocent this whole time? she got away with abuse and she’ll just do it again.," another fan commented.

South Carolina missed Ashlyn Watkins' defense in season opener

Watkins only started in 10 contests last season and averaged nearly 20 minutes per game throughout the season. However, Dawn Staley gave her more playing time in three of South Carolina’s NCAA Tournament matchups due to her defensive abilities.

Without Watkins, the Gamecocks had a closely fought battle in their season opener against the Michigan Wolverines (68-62), which came down to the last minute.

Despite Chloe Kitts’ dominant performance, former center Kamilla Cardoso’s absence was felt throughout the game. Ashlyn Watkins’ return will help give the Gamecocks the defensive presence it missed.

Watkins was top 10 in the nation in blocks last season (91) and had a defensive rating higher than 65. During the last three games last season, Watkins collected 13 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game per game. It was the best three-game stretch of her career.