USC women's basketball star JuJu Watkins suffered an injury scare in the team's first round victory on Saturday. She ultimately returned to the game and appeared to be alright. In USC's second round matchup on Monday, however, Watkins suffered what looked like a potential serious injury. She exited the game and headed to the locker room with an apparent knee concern, according to On3.
There is no official update as of this story's writing, but updates will be provided as they are made available by the team.
JuJu Watkins suffers injury concern in NCAA Tournament game
Watkins emerged as one of the best players in the sport this season. It seemed as if Watkins was poised to lead USC on a potential special run in the NCAA Tournament. As mentioned, there are no updates on Watkins' status as of this story's writing so USC is holding on to hope. However, the injury looked quite frightening.
Watkins immediately fell to the floor in clear pain. She ended up getting carried off the court and headed to the locker room. It was a difficult play to watch, and all USC women's basketball and JuJu Watkins can do now is hope that she dodged a serious injury.
The 19-year-old guard averaged 24.6 points, 7.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 2.3 steals and 1.8 blocks per outing across 32 games in the 2024-25 season. She also shot 42.8 percent from the field and 32.6 percent on her three-point attempts.
Watkins, currently in her second season of college basketball, looks like a future WNBA star. She is already a superstar with USC women's basketball without question. It would not be surprising to see Watkins end up becoming a No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA Draft at some point down the road.
For now, the focus is on her injury status. USC will attempt to finish their second round game against Mississippi State, but one has to imagine the Watkins situation will make it difficult for the team to focus. Nevertheless, the Trojans do hold a 20-point lead as of this article's publication.
The attention will surely be on Watkins after the game regardless of whether or not USC women's basketball holds their lead against Mississippi State. If USC does end up earning the victory, possibly losing JuJu Watkins would be a devastating blow for the remainder of the tournament to say the least.