USC’s Watkins is poised to step in as the subsequent large star of ladies’s faculty basketball
LOS ANGELES — Caitlin Clark – the present Associated Press nationwide participant of the yr – is in what could also be her closing season at Iowa. She might keep yet one more yr as the results of the COVID-19 pandemic, as might Angel Reese of nationwide champion LSU.
Regardless of their futures, JuJu Watkins is poised to step in as the subsequent large star of the ladies’s recreation.
The Southern California freshman guard is the nation’s second-leading scorer at 26.8 factors per recreation, proper behind Clark, who leads with 30.5.
Watkins earned Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors in every of her first 5 weeks. She broke Lisa Leslie’s faculty document for many 30-point video games by a freshman, with 5 in her first seven video games.
She’s led the Trojans to a No. 6 rating within the AP Top 25 ballot and a 10-0 document.
Watkins sat out a win at Long Beach State on Dec. 21, with USC solely saying she was day-to-day and never explaining additional.
She wasn’t feeling properly in a win over Cal State Fullerton three days earlier, leaving the court docket twice throughout the recreation however nonetheless ending with 23 factors, six rebounds and 6 assists.
The Trojans subsequent play on Saturday at No. 2 UCLA within the groups’ Pac-12 opener. The Bruins are also undefeated at 11-0 and the sport is predicted to be a uncommon sellout for girls’s basketball in Los Angeles.
Among the celebrities who’ve come out to observe Watkins are LeBron James, Kevin Hart, Candace Parker, 2 Chainz, Vanessa Bryant and actor Storm Reid, a fellow USC pupil.
Watkin’s presence helped appeal to 4,712 to the Trojans’ residence opener, their largest crowd since 2010.
“This is why I’m here,” mentioned Watkins, who has greater than 340,000 Instagram followers. “Just to feel this energy in LA.”
As the Watkins phenomenon grows, USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb has thought-about reaching out to Iowa coach Lisa Bluder to see how they handle Clark’s stardom.
“I think we’re headed for some unprecedented things,” Gottlieb mentioned. “She handles all of this with such grace. We try to do a good job of allowing her to be her, which is different and special, but also shielding her from some extra stuff. We’re constantly kind of updating that plan as we go.”
Watkins grew up within the Watts part of South Los Angeles and in selecting USC she’s about 10 miles from residence. Her neighborhood comes out for her, carrying her No. 12 jersey and cheering her each transfer.
“She understands her importance in the community,” Gottlieb mentioned. “As good of a player as she is, she’s really even a better human. I know it sounds cliché but it’s the truth. Her village and her circle is really adept at putting her in the best possible situation to be happy and to succeed.”
After the ultimate buzzer, Watkins strikes to the primary row of stands, stopping often to speak, maintain a child for a photograph or assist an older lady work her digital camera cellphone.
Men, ladies and youngsters – of all ages and races – desire a second together with her.
“I’m starting basketball and I’m going to try to play like her,” mentioned Jenesis Clark, a 9-year-old from close by Chatsworth, the place Watkins starred at Sierra Canyon High.
A smiling Watkins high-fives squealing women, indicators jerseys and circles again to pockets of followers she could have missed as she wends her method round half the court docket by herself. There’s no minder urging her to curtail the infectious spontaneity.
“It’s very heartwarming just to feel the energy here, feel all the love,” she mentioned. “It’s amazing, especially that it’s in my hometown. I’m able to see people that I don’t really get to see as often, see family and little kids, it’s really cool.”
Hall of Famer Cheryl Miller gained back-to-back nationwide championships at USC in 1983 and ’84. She likes what she sees in Watkins on and off the court docket.
“Extremely poised, very smooth, very little wasted motion. The sky’s the limit,” Miller mentioned. “I really, really like her temperament and how she’s handled everything. The game isn’t too big for her. She’s very comfortable in her skin.”
Watkins made a splash within the prep ranks, changing into the Gatorade nationwide participant of the yr as a senior at Sierra Canyon, the place she led the Trailblazers to a 31-1 document and the CIF-Southern Section Open Division title whereas being an honor pupil.
Watkins dedicated to USC in November 2022 when the Trojans have been coming off a 12-16 document in Gottlieb’s first season. As the No. 1 recruit within the nationwide class of 2023, she might have gone to a longtime powerhouse.
“Definitely one of the best choices of my life and I’ve only been here a couple months,” she mentioned.
Watkins is, after all, identified for her scoring. But she’s additionally a wonderful rebounder and passer who can provoke with the ball or play off the ball and move into the offense.
“She’s very poised, you can’t get her too high or too low,” teammate Taylor Bigby mentioned. “She can have 20 points and the way she’s playing you’d think she has two.”
Watkins’ teammates embody three Ivy League graduates who lend maturity, together with junior Rayah Marshall, the Trojans’ second-leading scorer and high rebounder. None appear in awe of Watkins.
“Even though she’s a freshman, when you see her going hard, when you see her setting that standard, it’s contagious,” Harvard switch McKenzie Forbes mentioned. “I feel like that’s just a testament to her character. She’s a great person, a great teammate. Everyone loves her.”
