Juju Watkins arrived at USC as one of the most highly touted freshmen in the country and instantly made her mark, scoring 32 points in her very first game — an upset over No. 7 Ohio State. In February, she dropped 51 on No. 4 Stanford, in another upset win for the Trojans. She finished the season averaging 27.0 points per game, trailing only Caitlin Clark and with an enormous gap between herself and No. 3 Hannah Hidalgo, at 23.3 points per game establishing herself as one of the best scorers in the country and one of the biggest rising stars in women's basketball.
- Ian Levy
FanSided Creative Editorial Director
Why you should join this fandom
USC was once a powerhouse in women's college basketball, winning back-to-back titles in 1983 and 1984 and earning a top-five seed in the NCAA Tournament 11 times in a 13-season span from 1982 to 1994. But the program had fallen on hard times before Watkins arrived, making the tournament just four times in the previous two decades. With her leading the charge, the Trojans nabbed their first No. 1 seed since 1986 and made a regional final. They then landed top transfer Kiki Iriafen and entered the 2024-25 season ranked No. 3 in the AP preseason poll. USC women's basketball is back and Juju Watkins is the face of this resurgent program.
Best fan moment of the year
It doesn't get much better than dropping 51 on a conference foe and hated rival. Watkins was absolutely unstoppable, shooting 14-of-26 from the field, 6-of-11 from beyond the arc and 17-of-19 from the free throw line, adding 11 rebounds, 4 steals and 2 assists. But while this may have been the peak for Watkins' in her freshman season, she established an incredible track record of rising to meet the moment. The Pac-12 was one of the toughest conferences in the country last season and USC went 6-4 in conference games against ranked opponents with Watkins averaging 28.8 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game.