JuJu Watkins joined the University of Southern California as the number-one recruit in the country last season. Averaging 27.1 points and 7.3 rebounds for the Trojans that season, she was given the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year honor.
A Los Angeles, California native, Watkins had a couple of programs to choose from before deciding to enroll at USC, including Dawn Staley’s South Carolina and Kate Paye’s Stanford. In her guest appearance on “Good Game with Sarah Spain” on December 18, she talked about the reasons why she ultimately decided to go to USC.
“You know, for so many reasons I chose USC, but I think one of the biggest things that stood out was just the culture here,” JuJu said. “The staff, Coach Lindsey, all the assistant coaches. I just, you know, got a really good vibe here and I kind of felt like everything fell into place in perfect timing in making my decision.”
Another key reason for JuJu Watkins’ decision was that USC was close to her home and she wanted to represent her city of Los Angeles.
“I think going to USC, my main focus is to get LA basketball back to what it used to be in college,” she said in a March 2023 interview. “Just creating a more competitive environment for LA basketball and putting it back on the map is very important to me, which is why I made my decision to go to USC.”
JuJu Watkins is bringing USC to prominence
USC sophomore JuJu Watkins set out to bring attention to her school and to Los Angeles basketball as a whole—and that is exactly what she has been doing.
In her freshman year as a Trojan, she gathered the most points ever scored by a freshman in NCAA history, tallying 920 points. She set the USC single-season scoring record, became the Pac-12 Conference scoring leader, and was named to both the All-Pac-12 Team and the Unanimous All-American First Team.
Watkins also led the Trojans to their first NCAA Elite Eight appearance since 1994. She tallied 28 points in the second-round game against Kansas, 30 points against Baylor in the Sweet Sixteen, and 29 points against UConn in the Elite Eight.
The USC sophomore continues to shine this season. Averaging 24.8 points. 5.8 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game, she recently scored a game-high 25 points as she helped the Trojans improve their record to 11-1 and give Paige Bueckers and UConn their second loss of the season.
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