USC women's basketball star JuJu Watkins recently suffered a devastating ACL injury, ultimately ending her NCAA Tournament. On Friday, Trojans head coach Linday Gottlieb provided an update on how Watkins is doing after the unfortunate injury news.
"[I] gave her a journal to say when you feel it, let yourself feel all the feelings that you're feeling because if you do that, then at some point you're able to move on from them and go further in your life," Gottlieb said, via Alex Philippou of ESPN. "And we all know I would never wish this upon anyone, I would never want her to go through it and yet, at the same time, you know she's going to come out stronger than she ever was."
Gottlieb believes Watkins can return and be "stronger than she ever was." Nevertheless, it is unquestionably a difficult situation. USC women's basketball had serious aspirations of winning the 2025 NCAA Tournament. The Trojans could still win a national championship -- they will play Kansas State on Saturday night -- but accomplishing the feat without one of the best players in the game will be a challenge to say the least.
USC women's basketball will miss JuJu Watkins
Through 33 games played in 2024-25, the 19-year-old averaged 23.9 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 2.2 steals and 1.8 blocks per outing. Watkins also shot 42.6 percent from the field and 32.5 percent from beyond the arc.
It was a strong overall second college basketball campaign for JuJu Watkins. She has continued to establish herself as a true superstar in the sport. In the 2024-25 season, Watkins has been regarded as arguably the best women's college basketball player, even earning mentions alongside stars such as Paige Bueckers and Hannah Hidalgo.
Watkins' basketball future remains bright. It will be a long road to recovery, but there are many stars who have bounced back from similar injuries over the years. It is certainly far from an ideal situation, but JuJu Watkins should still have an opportunity to play at a superstar level once again at some point down the road.
At the moment, Watkins is focused on her recovery after suffering a torn ACL. Her team, meanwhile, is attempting to find a way to stay afloat in the tournament despite her injury absence.
The USC women's basketball team will go head-to-head with Kansas State at 8 PM EST on Saturday night.